Brazil gave the ecstatic home crowd another gold medal to celebrate as they beat Italy to win the men's volleyball final on the closing day of the Olympic Games.

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Brazil 3-0 (25/22, 28/26,26/24) victory secured the country's seventh gold medal at Rio 2016, and banished the memory of defeats in the last two Olympic men's volleyball finals.

As the delirious home crowd remained to watch the medal ceremony, fans danced in the stands and chanted "Campeao! Campeao!" Brazil's gave the hosts another sensational gold in the stadium next door to where Neymar and Co. prevailed less than 24 hours earlier in the thrilling penalty shoot-out against 2014 World Cup winners Germany. 

Gabriel Jesus and Neymar watch the volleyball final at the Maracanazinho (Photo: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

With Neymar in a courtside seat cheering his countrymen, Wallace pumped his arms and let out screams from as Brazil fed off the energy in raucous Maracanazinho arena. Over and over again he celebrated each point that got his team closer to an Olympic title.

Neymar threw his hands up in triumph when the Brazilians grabbed the hard-fought second set, then jumped to his feet on each of the two match points Brazil needed to finish it. The "monster block!" tune that played all tournament sounded once more after Lipe's last play. He sprinted to the end of the floor and slid on his knees, arms raised to the sky.

(Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Team captain Bruno rushed to Neymar for an embrace, while Lucas also ran to the stands to hug a supporter before holding Sergio in his arms and fighting tears.

"We deserved this medal so much," Bruno said afterwards. "It's much more special to do it at home, it's a magical moment. Everything we went through and now we are Olympic champions. This generation was said to be chokers. After so many silvers, now we're gold."

Brazil's men had avenged the loss to Russia in the 2012 London Games gold-medal match with a straight-set victory on Friday night (19 August), then carried that momentum — and rode the energy of their huge crowd — to the top spot of the Olympic podium.

Italy had come close in London, earning the bronze medal and again came third in Rio. The stunned Italians — in tears as they watched the wild celebration unfold — had outlasted USA in a five-set semi-final that went down as an instant Olympic classic. Now, they must try to win their first volleyball gold at Tokyo 2020.

Brazil's victory made amends for London 2012, when they lost to Russia after missing two match points. Russia left Rio 2016 with nothing this time, however, after USA fought back to win the men's volleyball bronze medal 3-2 at the Maracanazinho on Sunday.

Russia, who beat Brazil in the London final, were two sets up against the USA but could not consolidate that lead, eventually losing 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-13.

It was a tremendous fightback by USA, who began the tournament with successive defeats in pool A but then found new confidence and purpose with a 3-1 victory over Brazil.

USA secured the bronze medal beating Russia (Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Olympic Volleyball - Rio 2016 Summer Olympics

The USA might have expected the win, having beaten Russia in their previous six meetings, but probably not in the way the match unfolded.

Olympic volleyball results: Rio 2016

Russia were the dominant team in the early play, but were pulled back to 24-23 before clinching the first set. The second set was straightforward and Russia were looking good for their fifth Olympic medal in men's volleyball.

But Matthew Anderson, with 21 points, William Reid Priddy, 18 points,Taylor Sander, 17 points, and inspirational captain David Lee, 11 points, made their presence felt as confidence spread throughout the team.

Middle blocker Maxwell Holt was also a big contributor with his serve and, although the match remained tight, USA retained the edge to put themselves on the podium.