Japan players celebrate their thrilling victory over Brazil
Sendai, Japan, July 16, 2017 - Brazil dropped two first sets to the hosts but managed to come back as Japan eventually handed the defending champions their second defeat in as many days, winning 3–2 (25–22, 26–24, 19–25, 20–25, 17–15).
Japan coach Nakada Kumi: Brazil lost to Thailand yesterday, so I thought they would probably look hard at our team in their analysis. So I thought I should make a change from Koyomi Tominaga to Miya Sato at setter.
Japan captain Nana Iwasaka: This victory will certainly give us an emotional boost. We went the distance and we won. And it really gave us confidence.
Brazil coach José Guimarães: I’m not happy with our first set today. But Japan was good from the start today I think. In the first and second sets, our blocking was not good. In the third we tried to improve, but we couldn’t. In the tie-break, Japan had good concentration and won. But I think we were really motivated today, and I’m happy with that. We didn’t give up. Japan play as a team, not as individuals, and I admire that style of play.
Brazil captain Natália Pereira: After this loss its hard to analyse our game today. Our first and second sets weren't good, but we tried to do our best. We just couldn’t defend well, and we couldn’t handle their spikes. Our motivation was improved on yesterday, and I think our level was good – but Japan was just better today.