Q:
A:
Cuba surprises Serbia and Montenegro
Havana,
5 June 2004
Cuba achieved a surprising victory over Serbia and Montenegro in a heart-breaking match 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-21, 15-25 and 18-16), after more than two hours of hard-fought battle in front of a large crowd Saturday night at Havana's Ciudad Deportiva Hall.
Goran Vujevic (Serbia&Montenegro) spikes the ball
Author:
Reuters
The young Cuban team obtained its most important win in over three years, the first against the Sydney Olympic champions since 1998, when the Island claimed the World League title.
In the opening set, the host team showed a more efficient block and attack to win 25-20 and was en route to take the second set with an 18-12 lead. However, the young local squad lost concentration and the Balkans' experience prevailed to tie the score 25-23.
Cuba recovered a good overall performance and was able to maintain a narrow lead thanks to powerful displays by Yenry Bell, Raidel Poey and Yasser Portuondo to counterattack the strong European team.
Knowing they could beat the 2003 World League silver medallists, Cuba started 11-9 ahead and the score remained even 13-13. However, the Balkans' tall block stopped the Cuban attack and they went on to tie the score again 25-15.
In the tie-break, Cubans took an early 8-4 lead, taking advantage of their rivals failed actions and thanks to the strong attack of Poey, Portuondo and Bell. Serbia showed its tall block again and they managed to tie the score 13-13. The hard-fought battle continue until the 16th point and then captain Pavel Pimienta and Portuondo blocked when it mattered to achieve a historic triumph to the delight of more than 10.000 spectators at the Ciudad Deportiva Hall.
Poey led the Cuban attack with 18 points, followed by Bell (15), Portuondo (13) and Pimienta (13). Goran Vujevic was Serbia's top scorer with 19 points, supported by Alexander Mitrovic (12) and Milan Vasic (11).
The duel in Havana finished with a victory for each team in pool C. Cuba will visit Italy and Serbia and Montenegro will host China next weekend.
In the opening set, the host team showed a more efficient block and attack to win 25-20 and was en route to take the second set with an 18-12 lead. However, the young local squad lost concentration and the Balkans' experience prevailed to tie the score 25-23.
Cuba recovered a good overall performance and was able to maintain a narrow lead thanks to powerful displays by Yenry Bell, Raidel Poey and Yasser Portuondo to counterattack the strong European team.
Knowing they could beat the 2003 World League silver medallists, Cuba started 11-9 ahead and the score remained even 13-13. However, the Balkans' tall block stopped the Cuban attack and they went on to tie the score again 25-15.
In the tie-break, Cubans took an early 8-4 lead, taking advantage of their rivals failed actions and thanks to the strong attack of Poey, Portuondo and Bell. Serbia showed its tall block again and they managed to tie the score 13-13. The hard-fought battle continue until the 16th point and then captain Pavel Pimienta and Portuondo blocked when it mattered to achieve a historic triumph to the delight of more than 10.000 spectators at the Ciudad Deportiva Hall.
Poey led the Cuban attack with 18 points, followed by Bell (15), Portuondo (13) and Pimienta (13). Goran Vujevic was Serbia's top scorer with 19 points, supported by Alexander Mitrovic (12) and Milan Vasic (11).
The duel in Havana finished with a victory for each team in pool C. Cuba will visit Italy and Serbia and Montenegro will host China next weekend.
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