The defending champions are after their third gold medal in the history of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship, after winning the 2013 and 2015 editions of the competition - both in Betim.
In addition to their two Club World Championship gold medals, Sada Cruzeiro also have a silver from the 2012 edition, when they lost to Italy’s Trentino Diatec in four sets in the final in Doha.
Founded in 2006 in Betim, part of the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area in the state of Minas Gerais, Sada merged with Cruzeiro in 2009 and is now based in neighbouring Contagem.
Sada Cruzeiro have won the Brazil Superleague title four times (including the last three editions) and the Cup twice.
They have also dominated the South American Club Championship, claiming the title a record three times in 2012, 2014 and 2016, in addition to a bronze in 2009 and a silver in 2015 when they lost in five sets to Argentina’s UPCN San Juan in the final.
Last season Sada Cruzeiro swept the board by winning the Minas Gerais championship, the Brazilian Superleague, the Brazil Cup and Supercup and the South American Club Championship, after picking up the 2015 FIVB Club World Championship with a four-set win in the final over Russia’s Zenit Kazan.