Cordoba, Argentina, July 25, 2010 – World No. 1 Brazil, the most successful team in World League history, became FIVB World League champions for a record ninth time after they overcame a tough Russian side 3-1 (25-22, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23) in the 2010 final in Orfeo Superdomo on Sunday to claim the $1m first prize.

2010 FIVB World League official page

There were many pretenders to the crown but Brazil defeated them all to surpass Italy as the record World League winner. After passing through the Intercontinental Round with one defeat to the Netherlands, this new look Brazil side had enough class to pass through the Final Round in sensational style, undefeated and untouched, finishing on an amazing unbeaten run of 13 matches.

"It was outstanding," Dante said. "Russia was very strong but we put pressure on their serving and we had the power of using their mistakes."

"This is a very important title," Brazil coach Bernardo Rezende said. "We never let Russia use their strongest weapon, serving. We made too many mistakes on the third set but got into the match again in the fourth."

The experienced Dante, called back into the national squad after a couple of years in the wilderness, led from the front, including a match high 18 points for Brazil in the final, while usual suspects Rodrigao and Vissotto, who was missing in the final through injury, were at their imposing best. However it was tournament Most Valuable Player Murilo who was the star of the show. Constantly a menace with his incredible spiking and supercharged serving, the 29-year-old from Rio Grande do Sul was a deserved winner of the 2010 World League MVP. Not only was he a strong contributor on the score sheet but his credentials as heir to the Giba throne were there for everyone to see.
 
Brazil have now won a record 15 medals in total including two silver and four bronze while Russia, the third most successful team in the World League and who collected $500,000 for second place, have five silver medals, a gold and seven bronze which includes three bronze and two silver in the past five editions.

Earlier in the day Serbia claimed the bronze medal and $300,000 in prize money after beating Cuba in a five-set thriller 3-2 (28-30, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12). The win gives Serbia their third World League medal in three years after silver in 2008 and 2009 for an overall total of four silver and three bronze medals.

2010 WORLD LEAGUE FINAL STANDINGS () denotes last year’s placing
1. Brazil (1)
2. Russia (3)
3. Serbia (2)
4. Cuba (4)
5. Argentina (5)
6. Italy (7)
7. Bulgaria (12)
8. USA (6)
9. Germany (-)
10. Poland (9)
11. Netherlands (10)
12. France (11)
13. Finland (8)
14. Egypt (-)
15. China (13)
16. Korea (14)

BEST PLAYERS (Only players in the last four are eligible)
Best Spiker: Maxim Mikhaylov (RUS)
Best Blocker: Dmitriy Muserskiy (RUS)
Best Server: Joandry Leal (CUB)
Best Libero: Mario (BRA)
Best Setter: Sergey Grankin (RUS)
Best Scorer: Maxim Mikhaylov (RUS)
Most Valuable Player: Murilo (BRA)

RESULTS AND MATCH SCHEDULE
Sunday, July 25 - Finals
Bronze Medal Match: SRB-CUB 3-2 (28-30, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12)

Saturday, July 24 - Semifinals
RUS-SRB 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-20)
BRA-CUB 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-20)

Friday, July 23
ARG-SRB 0-3 (19-25, 18-25, 26-28) 
CUB-ITA 3-0 (25-17, 35-33, 25-22)

Thursday, July 22
SRB-BRA 2-3 (25-21, 22-25, 25-18, 20-25, 14-16)
RUS-CUB 3-2 (23-25, 25-14, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13)

Wednesday, July 21
BRA-ARG 3-2 (25-17, 23-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-10)
ITA-RUS 2-3 (14-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 7-15)