TOKYO, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Defending champions Brazil survived an early scare to beat Argentina in five sets in the Olympic men's volleyball preliminaries on Monday.
The Brazilians bounced back from a sluggish start to win the dramatic Group B game, 19-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-21, 16-14.
Argentina's Bruno Lima got a game-high 26 points, while Yoandy Leal paced Brazil with 18 points.
Brazil and Argentina matched each other shot for shot in the decider until Argentina made a serve error and then attack error to surrender.
Also in Pool B, the ROC team downed the United States 3-1 (25-23, 27-25, 21-25, 25-23), and France trounced Tunisia 3-0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-21).
Although Taylor Sander grabbed a game-high 17 points and captain Matthew Anderson added 15, the United States still could not stop the efficient attacks of the ROC side, which had four player in double-digit scoring.
Pool A also witnessed a closely contested match between Japan and Canada. The hosts rallied from one set down to beat Canada 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-20).
Ishikawa Yuki and Nishida Yuji combined for 45 points, while Canada's John Gordon Perrin scored 22 points, including 20 kills from 31 attempts.
In other Pool A matches, Iran thrashed Venezuela 3-0 and Poland swept past Italy 3-0. Enditem