Lausanne, Switzerland, August 11, 2017 - Brazil and Venezuela go head-to-head Friday in the final of the 2017 Men's South American Championship for a single available ticket to the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, after Venzuela stunned Argentina in the semifinals.
Led by Emerson Rodriguez who scored 16 points, Venezuela pulled off a major upset, knocking out Argentina 3-2 (26-24, 15-25, 24-26, 26-24, 15-13) after a nail-biting game in Santiago to secure at least a silver medal at the South American Championship for the first time since 2003.
Sebastian Sole was Argentina's best scorer with 14 points.
"We may have lost to Brazil in the pool, but we are going with everything in the final," said Venezuela's outside hitter Fernando Gonzalez after the game.
Brazil promptly dealt with hosts Chile in the other semifinal 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-14), with Mauricio Silva leading the scoring on 18 points, while Wallace added another 15.
"We played a very good match," said setter Bruno Rezende after the game. "Chile played well in the first set, but after that then we put on the pressure with our servicing and worked hard for the win."
One more ticket from South America for the 2018 World Championship, to be jointly hosted by Italy and Bulgaria, will be decided at the continental qualifiers, scheduled to start on August 31 in Argentina.
Chile and Argentina will meet for the bronze medal of the South American Championship, Friday in Santiago at 18.30 local time (22.30 GMT), just before the Brazil v Venezuela final which starts at 20.30 (00.30 GMT Saturday).
Meanwhile, in classification matches for positions 5-8 on Thursday, Uruguay beat Paraguay 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-20) and Colombia downed Peru 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-16).
Uruguay will now play Colombia Friday for 5th place and Paraguay will meet Peru for 7th place in the city of Temuco.
All matches are available to watch live on the South American Confederation website, as are full results, standings and schedules.
Hosts Italy and Bulgaria and defending champions Poland have direct tickets to the FIVB's flagship tournament. France, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Russia, Serbia, Finland, and Belgium from Europe plus Japan and Australia from Asia have already secured their berths through continental qualifiers.
Quick links - Volleyball:
FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship 2018
FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship 2018
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