BEIJING -- The biggest-ever Brazilian delegation is expected to give the best-ever performance in Beijing with the world's top ball players and sailors on board.
"I want you to win all the medals possible," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said when he greeted the athletes at a send-off for the national delegation.
Volleyball and sailing, providing two gold medals each when Brazil won a record five golds in the Athens Olympics, are still hot favorites for the South American country in the upcoming Beijing Games.
The indoor and beach volleyball teams were expected to make a clean sweep of four gold medals at stake, Brazil's top sports magazine Globo Esporte predicted.
The men's indoor team, led by top star GilbertoGodoy Filho (better known as Giba), has proved its ruling position by wrapping up champions of all major international competitions including the Olympics, World Championships and World Cup since 2001. The team, coming to Beijing with an average age of 28, is targeting nothing but the title.
"I believe my players are the best and we are confident to win the championship in Beijing," said Brazilian head coach Bernardo Rezende, taking Russia and the fourth-ranked Bulgaria as the greatest threats.
In the bronze battle field, the reigning champion Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego would face big challenge from the uprising stars Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser from the United States. The U.S. duo were the 2007 world champions and have topped the world rankings by winning their last three tournaments.
The Brazilian women, however, are more than eager to win gold medals in Beijing. The indoor team has become one of the top title favorites by claiming their seventh World Grand Prix title in July with a perfect 5-0 record, but their coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes said he had no "illusions" about the Olympics.
"It is quite another matter, the Grand Prix and the Olympics," said Guimaraes.
