TOKYO, Nov 30: World champions Brazil beat Japan to complete a clean sweep in their first World Cup men’s volleyball victory on Sunday.

With a 25-17, 25-20, 25-16 win over the host team, the Brazilians ended the 12-team round robin with 11 straight wins, ahead of three-time former world champions Italy and Sydney Olympic gold medallists Serbia and Montenegro.

The Italians lost to the Serbians 18-25, 25-21, 28-30, 22-25 as the two teams finished with an identical 9-2 win-loss record, but Italy took the second place due to their better set-winning ratio.

Brazil, Italy, and Serbia and Montenegro booked their places in the Athens Olympic Games next year by securing the top three places on Saturday.

Brazil have struggled to win a medal in the three major world events since winning the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the silver medal in the 1984 in Los Angeles Games.

But they returned to the top by beating Italy on their way to the world championships title last year. The Brazilian spikers kept their top world ranking by winning the World League in July.

Their previous best World Cup finishes were thirds in 1981 and 1995.

“The tournament was long and tough, but our players did an excellent job,” said Brazilian coach Bernardo Rezende.

“The World Cup is very important, maybe behind the Olympics and the world championships, but still it is very, very valuable, so it is my privilege to be the very first Brazilian coach to win.”

Italy was disappointed with its weak finish to the tournament.

“The result today was not good, because we didn’t play well. Our motivation to win the match was very low after we qualified for the Olympics yesterday,” said Italian coach Gianpaolo Montali.

Montali said that the individual skills of the Brazilian players were better than his own team but he was happy with Italy’s rise up the world rankings.

“Don’t forget that we were fifth in the world championships last year, and now after the summer, we won the European championships and finished second in the World Cup. That was very, very good for us,” said Montali.

Serbian coach Ljubomir Travica agreed Brazil is in a class of its own at the moment.

“They came here with 12 players, but they have some more good players left at home,” said Travica. — AFP