Sada Cruzeiro excited with another home Club World Championship
12/11/2019 at 20:50
One of the most decorated teams in the history of the men’s FIVB Volleyball Club World Championships, Brazil’s Sada Cruzeiro Volei, are all geared up to host the event for the fifth time as the 2019 edition is set to take place in Betim from December 3 through 8.
In the Club World Championship’s all-time honours list, Sada Cruzeiro have three titles (all won at home), one silver and one bronze to their name, standing second only to five-time world champions and seven-time medallists Trentino Volley of Italy. The Brazilian powerhouse claimed the crown in 2013, 2015 and 2016.
At their debut at the Club World Championships in 2012 in Doha, they finished runners-up. 2014 was the only time when they hosted the tournament but did not triumph as winners, finishing fourth. In 2017, the team from Belo Horizonte took bronze in Poland, and in the latest edition in 2018, also in Poland, they fell just short of making the semifinals. Sada Cruzeiro have been Club World Championship regulars since 2012 and this will be their eighth consecutive appearance.
Sada Cruzeiro players celebrate during Superliga championship – Photo: Agênciai7
With such an impressive history behind them, the reigning South American club champions also boast a high-level roster to cope with the strong competition at the Club World Championships – namely European champs Cucine Lube Civitanova of Italy, Asian champs Al-Rayyan of Qatar and European Champions League runners-up Zenit Kazan of Russia.
A 2016 Olympic champion with Brazil, 37-year-old opposite Evandro Guerra, who was also on the Sada Cruzeiro squad that claimed the latest Club World Championship title in 2016, is already into his fourth season with the club.
Another distinguished Brazilian international, 28-year-old middle blocker Isac Santos, winner of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball World Cup and the 2019 South American Championship with the national team, will be vying for his fourth Club World Championship gold, after playing for Sada Cruzeiro in their three previous quests for the title.
Categoria: Club World Championship, Sem categoria
