Yoandy Leal, the Cuban volleyball player naturalized as Brazilian, best attacker and leading scorer of the Volleyball World Championship

September 13, 2022

Yoandy Leal, the Cuban volleyball player naturalized as Brazilian, was the best attacker and leading scorer of the recently concluded World Championship of that sport, where he also won the bronze medal with the team of his adopted country.

Leal accumulated 127 points, leading the list of top scorers at the World Championship, while in attacks he recorded 107 points to likewise command this offensive department; in blocks he added eight units and in service points, 10. The volleyball player was also elected as the "best setter" of the tournament.

The athlete was called up by the Brazilian national team for the first time in May 2019, after a long wait for authorization from the International Volleyball Federation, following his departure from the Cuba team.

In a message he posted on his Instagram account three years ago, the Cuban, who became a Brazilian citizen in 2015, stated: "I am Brazilian at heart. Brazil was the country I chose and I don't regret it."

The islander made his debut with Cuba's national team in 2007, when he competed in the U-21 World Championship, and said goodbye to the national team in 2010, when he won the silver medal at the World Championship after losing in the final to Brazil, precisely. At that time he admitted his dissatisfaction with the lack of prospects in his country of origin.

As for other statistics from the Volleyball World Championship, in 13th place among top scorers was a Cuban who does play with the Caribbean national team, Jesús Herrera, who accumulated 83 points, 72 of them in attacks and 9 with the service.

Another Cuban who stood out, although in defensive departments like blocking, was center Robertlandy Simón, who finished tenth in this category, with 11 units achieved in four matches of the World Championship. The leader in this department was the talented Argentine Agustín Loser.

Cuba finished in 14th place at the Volleyball World Championship, which Italy won in a hotly contested final against Poland, and the Brazilians took home the bronze.