Grand Champions Cup/Marouf: Our substitutes did well today

Nagoya, Japan, September 13, 2017 – Iran were down in the two sets, but Iran captain Mir Saeid Marouflakrani said that they played without fear and played their full potential after that to win 3-2 against USA in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Grand Champions Cup on Wednesday.
Iran captain Mir Saeid Marouflakrani: It was an unbelievable match, so I’m happy we won it. In the first two sets, we didn’t have anything. They killed us with their serve and side-out and they were amazing. After that, we played without fear and to our full potential. Our substitutes did well today and all the players helped us in this victory, so I’m happy. Congratulations to all Iranians, to my team and the staff.

Iran coach Igor Kolakovic: It was such a difficult game. There were two different parts of the game. I have to say USA played unbelievable on reception, side-out and service in the first two sets. I talked to my players and told them if they played like that, there wasn’t much we could do, so we had to wait for opportunities. I told them they would give us opportunities for sure because they can’t play at that high level all the time. And we did that.