Osaka, Japan, November 15, 2006: Brazil booked a place in the World Championship final by holding off Serbia and Montenegro 3-1 in the first semi-final on Wednesday afternoon.

The South Americans came home 25-17, 25-14, 21-25, 25-20 and will play either Russia or reigning world champions Italy in Thursday's final.

Serbia and Montenegro, ranked 30th in the world compared to Brazil's No. 2, will still have a chance to finish only their second World Championships with the bronze medal on the last day of play.

Serbia and Montenegro looked overawed by the occasion in the early stages, and by the famous canary yellow and green colours on the other side of the net.

Ivana Djerisilo and Jelena Nikolic both missed straight-forward spikes, and captain Vesna Citakovic put a serve wide. Brazil, on the other hand, pounded winners down the middle from Fabiana Claudino and Welissa "Sassa" Gonzaga, and scored out wide through Sheilla Castro and Jaqueline Carvalho.

The Europeans called a TO trailing 3-0, and were down 8-2 at the first TO, before they began to settle with points from Natasa Krsmanovic at the net and Djerisilo on the right.

Sassa's booming serves were unsettling the Serbia and Montenegro defence, and a crunching block by Carvalho on Djerisilo brought up the second technical break, 16-9. Shortly after, Walewska Oliveira did the same on Krsmanovic at the centre of the net, and coach Zoran Terzic took his players off again at 18-10.

Citakovic boosted her team's spirits with some excellent blocking of her own, and Anja Spasojevic followed her lead in attack and with some blistering serves.

But the Brazilians were too far ahead. Castro brought up set point at 24-17 with a powerful kill after a flying dummy from Fabiana, and Krsmanovic spiked wide to hand Brazil the first set 25-17.

There was no let-up from Brazil in the second set, and Terzic needed a TO with his team struggling at 6-2 down.

The Brazilians' back-court defence was outstanding, with libero Fabiana Oliveira appearing from nowhere to cut off a succession of SCG attacks, but a casual mistake by Walewska, pushing the ball into the net from close range, allowed the Europeans to close up to 10-7 and cause enough concern for Brazil coach Ze Roberto to take a TO.

The pace and attacking patterns of Brazil were too much to handle for SCG, and the second set was disappearing at 16-10.

The Blues were making too many errors and looked sluggish compared to the confident South Americans, whose tall and mobile block cut off all the angles for the opposing spikers.

Fabiana was dominating the net and piling up the points as easily as picking apples off a tree, whereas SCG libero Suzana Cebic must have felt like a punchbag against Brazil's heavy artillery. At 24-14, Walewska struck an easy winner to end the second set.

In the third set, Brazil led 8-4 at the first TTO, but a pumped-up Spasojevic dragged her team back with some fierce spiking and serving.

But just when the Europeans may have sensed a comeback, Fofao let Fabiana loose with an overhead set that the fearsome middle blocker smashed home in classic style.

Serbia and Montenegro stuck with it, though, and with Nikolic becoming more prominent in attack and block, they nudged ahead 14-13 to prompt a Brazil TO. When they returned, Carvalho resumed play with a monster spike from the left that flattened Cebic and went spinning into the seats.

Spasojevic continued to blaze away and give her team hope, and the Brazilians were clearly rattled and had lost their flow. On the sideline, coach Ze Roberto was yelling at his team above the noise of the Brazilian fans, in order to inject some urgency into them. He also made a string of substitutions to change the combinations, but it was too late and Nikolic powered them home in the third, 25-21.

In the fourth set, the Serbs were released from the anxiety of their earlier play, and were beginning to show their true form and going for their shots. With nothing to lose and with all the pressure on Brazil, the first semi-final had quickly changed from a rout to a match worthy of its status.

Soaring from the back court, Nikolic spiked cleanly through the Brazilian defence to give her team a four-point lead at the first TTO, 8-4.

Now it was Brazil who were looking vulnerable and having to make up ground, and coach Ze Roberto desperately searched for a spark to relight the fire. Caroline Gattaz tried to provide it, and took the Canaries to the second TTO with the most slender of leads, 16-15.

At 19-16, Brazil were back on course, forcing an SCG TO, and they did not let go and closed out the fourth set 25-20 after some late erratic spiking from their opponents.

15/11/06 - FIVB