Women's Volleyball, Can They Create Another 'Miracle' by Defeating Brazil Today?

The South Korean women's volleyball team is training at the Shiohama Civic Gymnasium in Japan on the 5th, one day before the semifinals against Brazil at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] "I will shout until my neck bleeds and run in the match against Brazil. Like a mayfly, I will only think about tomorrow."

Kim Yeon-koung (33, Shanghai, China), the 'ace' of the South Korean women's volleyball team, expressed her determination a day before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics semifinal against Brazil, scheduled for 9 PM today (the 6th). Unlike her usual calm confidence about victory, there is even a sense of solemnity like a general on the battlefield before this Brazil match.

If South Korea defeats Brazil, they will secure an Olympic medal for the first time in 45 years since the bronze medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Since women's volleyball was officially adopted as an event at the first Tokyo Olympics in 1964, South Korea has never achieved a record higher than a silver medal. This match could be the most important game in Kim Yeon-koung's career, who is playing her last Olympics, and in the history of Korean volleyball, drawing significant public interest.

Objectively, Brazil is far superior in strength. South Korea, ranked 11th in the world, holds an all-time head-to-head record of 18 wins and 45 losses against 2nd-ranked Brazil. South Korea also lost 0-3 to Brazil in the first match of the Group A preliminary round. Although South Korea won 3-1 in the 2019 World Cup in September, they have lost the last two matches since then. Brazil's average height is 183.4 cm, not much different from South Korea's 182.3 cm, but Brazil is evaluated to be superior in speed, technique, and power.

However, South Korea showed better performance as the sets progressed in the preliminary match against Brazil, and later demonstrated their strength by consecutively defeating teams with superior rankings such as the Dominican Republic (7th), Japan (10th), and Turkey (4th). The combination of Kim Yeon-koung's 'one team' spirit, the players' 'fighting spirit,' and coach Stefano Lavarini's 'strategy' might once again create a miracle.

If South Korea beats Brazil, they will compete for the gold medal against the winner of the USA-Serbia match. If they lose, they will play the bronze medal match on the 8th against the loser of that match.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.