LONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Brazil's women produced a
dazzling comeback to win Olympic volleyball gold on Saturday,
prompting a sneak preview of what life might be like in Rio de
Janeiro in four years time.
When Fernanda Rodrigues arched her back and delivered the
final blow to defeat a deflated United States, the roof of the
Earls Court area was almost blown off by an eruption of joy.
Forget Wembley, where the south Americans lost the soccer
final earlier in the day to Mexico, the rambling west London
arena, under threat from the wrecking ball, was the place to be
if you were wearing the famous yellow and green of Brazil.
"This is a wonderful feeling, it's amazing," said coach Jose
Guimaraes, whose side were atrocious in losing the first set
25-11 before storming back to repeat their final victory over
the United States in Beijing four years ago.
"Last year we lost every match against them. The U.S. were
favourites but after the first set we were really wonderful."
He could even afford a little dig at the soccer team's
failure to land gold.
"Soccer in Brazil is not a sport, it is a religion, so
volleyball is the first sport in Brazil," he said.
As hundreds of delirious Brazilians samba danced in the
stands, top scorer and glamour girl Jaqueline Carvalho milked
the applause and tearful libero Fabiana Oliveira kissed the
court the American team watched on sadly.
Inspirational U.S. captain Lindey Berg, together with four
more of her team, also fell at the final hurdle in Beijing and
she will not get another chance after announcing that it was the
end of her international career.
"I still believe we are a gold medal team," she told
reporters, wiping tears from her eyes. "I've no regrets, I've
given my heart and soul to three Olympics. It's been incredible
but I'm done now."
Coach Hugh McCutcheon, who led the U.S. men's team to gold
in 2008 is also moving on.
"This is the end of the road for me here in the
international arena," the New Zealander told reporters.
"It has been an unbelievable journey and I feel privileged
to have been able to do the things I have done and work with the
athletes that I have done."
It had all looked so good for the Americans when they raced
through the opening set in which Brazil were a shambles.
But when Brazil clicked into gear, there was no stopping
them. Roared on by most of the 15,000 crowd, they took the next
three sets 25-17 25-20 25-17 with Carvalho and Sheilla Castro
spiking to devastating effect and captain Fabiana Claudino an
oasis of calm in the hot-house atmosphere.
Brazil were already celebrating midway through the fourth
set before Rodriques got the party started for real.
The journey to gold was anything but straightforward for
Brazil. Defeats by South Korea and the U.S. in the group phase
brought criticism back home and after scraping into the last
eight they survived six match points before beating Russia.
"We started the Olympics really bad but once we started to
play our Brazilian volleyball I knew things would be different,"
captain Claudinho said. "We fought point after point.
"People were criticising us but we carried on, we trusted
ourselves, and the only objective was to win the medal and show
the people who didn't believe in us."
She spared a thought for the soccer players.
"I'm sad for them," she said. "I know that football comes
first in Brazil, but I'm happy we got the medal first."
Japan won the bronze medal after a 3-0 win over South Korea.
Brazil can make it a double celebration on Sunday when the men
face Russia in the final.
(Additional reporting by Toby Davis; Editing by Alison Williams
and Michael Holden)