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Check out all the Olympic men’s volleyball pool-play matches to follow today and how to follow them live.
United States (0-2, 0 points) vs. Brazil (2-0, 6 points)
Match vitals: 8:35 p.m. in Rio
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
World rankings: United States (No. 5); Brazil (No. 1)
All-time Olympic series: United States leads 6-5
What to know: It doesn’t get any easier of the United States in its comeback attempt to reach the quarterfinals. The United States having already lost its first two Olympic pool-play matches will now play the host-nation Brazil. This will be the third of five pool-play matches for the United States, which is in last place in Pool A and one of three teams in the Olympic tournament entering Thursday that have yet to record a point in the pool standings. The defending-Olympic silver medalist Brazil is tied for first place in Pool A and can potentially clinch a quarterfinals berth with a victory against the United States. The United States will likely need to win two of its remaining three matches to have any chance at earning a top-four finish in Pool A and a quarterfinals berth. A U.S. Men’s National Team has only twice failed to qualify for the quarterfinals in the last seven Olympics. Outside attacker Aaron Russell leads the United States and is second in the tournament with 31 kills. The 2015 Karch Kiraly Award recipient had a match-high 19 kills in a four-game loss to Italy on Tuesday. Opposite Matt Anderson added 13 kills against Italy to move into the tournament’s top 10 with 26 kills. Both former Penn State All-Americans are the only U.S. players with double-digit kills in every match so far this tournament. Along with these individual offensive performances, the United States finished with a tournament-high .383 attack percentage versus Italy. Former USC All-American setter Micah Christenson also is second in the tournament with a 10.86 assists per game average. Brazil had more than a .300 attack percentage in its first two pool-play matches, including hitting .524 in its tournament-opening victory against Mexico. Opposite Souza de Wallace had a match-high 18 versus Mexico and is among the tournament leaders with 30 kills. In addition, Wallace had a team-high 14 kills and added four blocks in a four-game home victory against the United States in FIVB World League play during the summer. Brazil finished the 2016 World League with the silver medal as Wallace earned Best Opposite honors. Brazil is 4-0 in home matches against the United States during this Olympic quadrennial with the last U.S. road victory in Brazil occurring in 2011. However, the United States defeated Brazil in the 2014 FIVB World League Finals to win the nation’s first gold medal at the annual international event since 2008.
Iran (0-2, 1 point) vs. Cuba (0-2, 0 points)
Match vitals: 7:30 a.m. (CST) in Rio
Follow live: Live stats, Online video
World rankings: Iran (No. 10); Cuba (No. 17)
Russia (1-1, 3 points) vs.Egypt (1-1, 3 points)
Match vitals: 9:35 a.m. (CST) in Rio
Follow live: Live stats, Online video
World rankings: Russia (No. 3); Egypt (No. 20)
Argentina (2-0, 6 points) vs. Poland (2-0, 5 points)
Match vitals: 1 p.m. (CST) in Rio
Follow live: Live stats, Online video
World rankings: Argentina (No. 6); Poland (No. 2)
France (1-1, 3 points) vs. Canada (1-1, 3 points)
Match vitals: 3:05 p.m. (CST) in Rio
Follow live: Live stats, Online video
World rankings: France (No. 11); Canada (No. 12)
Italy (2-0, 6 points) vs. Mexico (0-2, 0 points)
Match vitals: 6:30 p.m. (CST) in Rio
Follow live: Live stats, Online video
World rankings: Italy (No. 4); Mexico (No. 26)