体坛英语新闻：Brazil, USA secure semifinal berths at FIVB WGP final round

USA outplayed Italy defensively in the deciding set to clinch the victory in the five-set marathon later on Thursday.

"Italy is a strong team, and after the match yesterday there' s no question that they will come out strong today," USA head coach Hugh McCutcheon. "I am proud of my team. We had some moments that we weren' t at our best, yet our team still battled and was able to find the way to win. So we are very happy with the victory." ' Hooker scored 30 points for the United States while the Italians were by Simona Gioli with 28.

"I agree with my captain that we played better than yesterday. Actually it is not possible to play worse than yesterday," said Italy coach Massimo Barbolini. "We had our chances in the 4th set, but USA defended in a wonderful way and we didn' t have the passion for the ball. So USA deserved to win."

In Pool A, Jovana Brakocevic cashed in 25 points to lead Serbia to a come-from-behind 20-25, 25-17, 25-21 and 25-21 over reigning world champions Russia.

With their second victory in two days, Serbia led the standings of Pool A with five points.

"I want to congratulate our players. It is very satisfying to win against the best team in the world," said Serbia head coach Zoran Terzic. "We have been playing well throughout the whole World Grand Prix, and we hope to play our best game in the upcoming semi-final."

In the last match of the day, Thailand upset China 25-12, 25-21, 19-25 and 25-17 to improve to a 1-1 win-loss record. The Thais tied with Russia on three points while China only had one point in hand after Wednesday' s full set loss to Serbia.

China will play Russia on Friday and Serbia takes on Thailand on Friday with all four teams sharing the chance to make Saturday' s semifinals.