TOKYO 2020: Malkia Strikers hoping to show samba flair against Brazil

Brazilian Coach Luizomar de Moura and his assistant Paul Bitok lead their charges, Malkia Strikers, on their fifth and last battle at the Tokyo Olympics against a tough pool A opponent Brazil, a team that the coach knows and understands well.

Malkia Strikers has come so near yet so far to breaking the age-old record of not winning a single set or even match at the Olympics stage, falling by straight sets of 25-15, 25-11 and 25-23 to Japan on their opening game, 25-14, 25-22 and 26-24 against South Korea on their second game, 25-21, 25-11, and 25-20 against Serbia in their third game, and 25-19, 25-18, and 25-10 in their most recent game against the Dominican Republic.

Later today, the African champions take to the court against the 2016 Olympics gold medalist as their search for a first set win or even a first match win continues.

Kenya's team manager Beto Opice, a Brazilian for that matter, thinks that the match against Brazil will be strange owing to the fact that the Brazilian coaches in the Kenyan camp know the players in Brazil's team very well, with four of them having played for Coach Luizomar's club in Brazil.

Despite it being a dead rubber match for the Kenya team, it will be important for Brazil who will be seeking to topple Serbia off and finish at the top of group A, but Opice says that he wants Malkia Strikers to enjoy that game despite the differences.

“Playing Brazil will be really really strange for us because the Brazilian coaches (in the Kenya team) know each of the players (in the Brazil team) very well. Four of Them played for Luis Omar’s club in Brazil and getting to meet them will be interesting to see how we will share our knowledge and expertise on how Brazil plays with the Kenyan players. We do think Kenya will be doing well but we really want them to enjoy playing Brazil. Brazil now is in a different level where we want to be with the Kenya team in the future," Opice said.

Kenya has met with Brazil four times, twice in the World cup and twice in the World Championship, with Brazil emerging winners in all four encounters on straight sets.

The Brazilian team was chasing their third consecutive Olympic gold medal at Rio in 2016 following back-to-back victories at Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012 but were bundled out 3-2 in the quarters by the People's Republic of China who went ahead to win Gold.

The match kicks off at 3:45 PM EAT.