WL2017/Heynen: Iran made us tired

Tehran, Iran, June 10, 2017 – The press conference was held without the presence of Argentinean side maybe because Velasco go mad against the continuous objections of Heynen.

Head coach of Belgium: “I think Argentina played a great game. It was really a big fight and also in a big fight, there are some moments that coaches and players are fighting. I think it is part of sport. I have an amazing respect for Argentina and more respect for Mr. Velasco. I think he is doing a great job. He is a great coach. But of course, on the other side I want to win, so I apologize if it was too hard or too pushy. But the people who know me know that before and after the game I love everybody, but in the game not so much. About the game, of course I am very happy that we won a tie break. But our problem was that Iran made us tired. I am now very curious if the same happens between Iran and Serbia tonight. The player of Iran has to be tired then. My players are really tired and told me all the time we cannot anymore, but played 5 sets. But on the other side Serbia only played three sets and 3 hours earlier. So, I hope it is very interesting to see Iran and Serbia play 5 sets.”

Sam Deroo, the captain of Belgium: “it was a very intense game. I think we tried everything we could. We played a lot of different rotations and at the end we won the match. Obviously, physically it is pretty heavy to play 10 sets in two days. And now it is very important to recover for tomorrow match.”