Turin, Italy, September 28, 2018 - Rio 2016 Olympic champions Brazil meet Serbia and defending world champions Poland take on USA as the 2018 FIVB Men's World Championship peaks Saturday in Turin's Pala Alpitour with the semifinals.
Saturday's semifinals:
• 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT): Brazil v Serbia
• 21:15 local time (19:15 GMT): Poland v USA
Poland claimed the last open berth Friday night, in a surprisingly quick procedure that lasted only 25 minutes as they dispersed hosts Italy to claim the first set in the last match of Round 3 pool play. That first set, a very heavy for Italy 25-14, secured first place in the pool for Poland and forced the hosts to bow out of the tournament early.
The eventual win of Italy in five sets was hardly any consolation for very disappointing performances in both their Final Six games.
USA's Daiel McDonnell catches the Brazil block of Mauricio Souza and William Arjona off balance, Friday evening in Turin.
Earlier in the evening, with nothing more at stake than bragging rights for first place in the pool, Brazil and USA fielded mostly substitutes, as the North Americans suffered their first defeat of the tournament, 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-19), following a run of nine straight wins.
Match Centres:
• Brazil - USA (Pool I) 3-0
• Italy - Poland (Pool J) 3-2
Play continues on Saturday at the Pala Alpitour with the two semifinals.
Match Centres for the semifinals Saturday 29 September in Turin:
• Brazil v Serbia at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT)
• Poland v USA at 21:15 local time (19:15 GMT)
Yet another sellout crowd left Turin's Pala Alpitour disppointed, Friday night, after Poland knocked out Italy from the semifinals of the 2018 FIVB World Championship.
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