How it unfolded
Bernardinho, who took over the national team in 2001, layered defensive organization and receive precision on top of Brazil's characteristic creativity, and the approach was validated by the 2002 World Championship title before Athens. The final opponent was a still-formidable Italy. The first set was a one-sided 25-15 for Brazil. Serving disrupted Italy's receive, and libero Sergio Santos took total control of the back row, stripping Italy of its offensive options one by one. The second set was different: Italy fought back through deuce to take it 24-26 and level the match. But Brazil pulled back ahead 25-20 in the third and 25-22 in the fourth, with Giba closing out the decisive attacks until the very end. Giba was named tournament MVP, Santos swept Best Libero, Best Receiver and Best Digger, and setter Ricardinho and hitter Dante Amaral also picked up individual awards.
Why it still matters
This is the formal starting point of Brazil's men's volleyball dynasty. After this gold, Brazil added World Championships in 2006 and 2010 and Olympic gold at Rio in 2016, and won a record nine World League titles before it was discontinued. The match also showed that organizing the back row entirely around a libero and stacking break points through fast transition attacks had become the standard method of 2000s volleyball.