Rematches of Athens 2004 for Gold and Bronze in Rio 2016

Brazil and Italy have set themselves up a rematch of the Athens 2004 final, when both qualified to Sunday's Rio 2016 Olympic Games men's volleyball gold medal match after impressive appearances in Friday's semifinals against Russia and USA respectively.

It's a record fourth straight and sixth overall Olympic Games final for Brazil, who won gold medals in Barcelona 1992 (over The Netherlands) and Athens 2004. Italy will be taking their third shot at their first ever gold medal, after losing in the finals of Atlanta 1996 (to The Netherlands) and Athens 2004.

USA, the Beijing 2008 gold medallists, and Russia, the defending champions from London 2012, will play for bronze on Sunday morning - also a rematch of the Athens 2004 bronze medal game, which Russia won in straight sets.

Semifinal proceedings opened with a match as close and intense as they come, with some huge serving, unbelievable digging and colossal spiking that found Italy just that little bit stronger in the fourth set to force a tie-break and then overwhelming in the fifth to edge USA 3-2 (30-28, 26-28, 9-25, 25-22, 15-13).

Brazil followed suit with a solid sweep of Russia 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-17) in less than an hour and a half. It was a very welcome result for Brazil fans in the once again sold out Maracanazinho, after they had seen their team struggle through pool play.

Brazil players celebrate advancing to their fourth consecutive Olympic Games final.

The men's final is scheduled for Sunday at 13:15 at the Maracanazinho, shortly before the Closing Ceremony of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad right next door at the Maracana Stadium. The final will be preceeded by the bronze medal match at 09:30.

Summary Statistics - Men’s Tournament Rio 2016

Highest Scorer by Day

21 – Facundo Conte of Argentina v Iran on August 7

23 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Iran on August 9

21 – Earvin Ngapeth of France v Canada on August 11

36 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Russia on August 13

26 – Antonin Rouzier of France v Brazil on August 15

24 – Wallace de Souza of Brazil v Argentina on August 17

25 – Matt Anderson of USA v Italy on August 19

Top Scoring Performances

36 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Russia on August 13

26 – Antonin Rouzier of France v Brazil on August 15

25 – Antonin Rouzier of France v United States on August 13

25 – Gavin Schmitt of Canada v Italy on August 15

25 – Matt Anderson of USA v Italy on August 17

24 – Wallace de Souza of Brazil v Argentina on August 17

23 – Bartosz Kurek of Poland v Iran on August 9

Top Individual Blocking Performances

8 – Seyed Mousavi of Iran v Poland on August 9

8 – Artem Volvich of Russia v Egypt on August 11

6 – Max Holt of USA v Italy on August 19

5 – Facundo Conte of Argentina v Iran on August 7

5 – Pablo Crer of Argentina v Russia on August 9

5 – Seyed Mousavi of Iran v Cuba on August 11

5 – Graham Vigrass of Canada v Mexico on August 13

5 – Emanuele Birarelli of Italy v Brazil on August 13

5 – Mauricio de Souza of Brazil v France on August 15

5 – Dave Lee of USA v Italy on August 19

Top Individual Service Performances

5 – Max Holt of United States v Mexico on August 15

5 – Ivan Zaytsev of Italy v USA on August 19

5 – Matt Anderson of USA v Italy on August 19

4 – Ricardo Lucarelli of Brazil v Mexico on August 7

Top Team Blocking Performances

17 – Russia v Egypt on August 11

16 – USA v Italy on August 19

13 – Iran v Poland on August 9

13 – Iran v Cuba on August 11

13 – Argentina v Cuba on August 13

13 – Italy v Brazil on August 13

Top Team Serving Performances

10 – Egypt v Cuba on August 9

10 – Italy v USA on August 19

9 – Brazil v Mexico on August 7

Highest Scoring Sets

37-35 Poland v Argentina (3rd Set) on August 11

31-29 Iran v Cuba (2nd Set) on August 11

31-29 Italy v Iran (1st Set) on August 17

30-28 Italy v USA (1st Set) on August 19

28-26 Italy v United States (1st Set) on August 9

28-26 Iran v Egypt (1st Set) on August 13

28-26 USA v Italy (2nd Set) on August 19

26-24 Argentina v Iran (2nd Set) on August 7

26-24 Canada v Brazil (1st Set) on August 9

Highest Scoring Matches

217 – Poland d Iran 3-2 (25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 20-25, 18-16) on August 9

217 – Italy v USA 3-2 (30-28, 26-28, 9-25, 25-22, 15-9) on August 19

202 – Russia d Poland 3-2 (25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-10) on August 13

195 – Italy d United States 3-1 (28-26, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23) on August 9

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