2016 Olympics Rankings: #8 Argentina (Men)

The Argentina men's volleyball team clocks in at No. 9 in our 2016 Olympics Rankings.

Jul 29, 2016 by FloVolleyball Staff

2016 Olympics Rankings: #8 Argentina (Men)

By Bev Oden

The FloVolleyball Olympics Rankings will count down to the start of the indoor volleyball competition in Rio by highlighting one team per gender each day. Today, eight days before the first serve, we profile the No. 8-ranked Argentina men and Netherlands women.

COUNTRY: Argentina

TOP PLAYERS

Cristian Poglajen, Opposite
Leading scorer and best server for Argentina at WL

Sebastian Sole, Middle Blocker
Second-leading scorer and best blocker for Argentina in World League

Luciano De Cecco, Setter
Best setter of Olympic Qualifier

RISING STAR TO WATCH

Bruno Lima | 20 | Opposite
Third-best scorer for ARG at WL

SYNOPSIS

Argentina makes its seventh appearance in the Olympic Games, and eight players from the team that finished fifth in London will be back for Rio. The Argentine men qualified for the 2016 Olympics, beating Venezuela in the South American Olympic Qualifier to earn a berth early on in the qualification process.

Argentina's level of play at World League inspires little confidence for major success at the Olympics. The team finished in ninth place in Group 1 with a 3-6 record. USA and Brazil easily handled the Argentines and they were unable to put up a real fight against Iran, Poland and Italy.

However, Argentina is a good sized team can match up well with top teams. The team's three wins at World League were against World No. 3 Russia along with World League gold and bronze medalists Serbia and France. It has offensive weapons that can produce along with a quality setter to deliver the ball, but the team has not been able to consistently deliver good performances.

PREDICTION

Argentina will not improve upon its fifth-place finish in London. The South American squad will beat Egypt and Cuba but will fall to Iran, Poland and Russia. The best-case scenario for this team is to emerge from pool play in fourth place to move on to the quarterfinals. There the Argentines will likely be outmatched and find their Olympics journey concluded.