Germany's Gyorgy Grozer uncorked four aces among his 22 points to carry his team to a crucial victory over Iran
Katowice, Poland, September 17, 2014 – Germany bounced back from an awful first outing in Pool G of the FIVB Men’s World Championship to score a dominant victory over Iran in straight sets (25-15, 25-21, 25-19) at Spodek Arena of Katowice on Wednesday.
Germany relied on a masterful performance by Gyorgy Grozer who finished with 23 points, including four bombs from the service line and one block. En route to his splendid night, Grozer produced an efficiency of 62.96 with his killing attempts (18-of-27). Marcus Bohme and Denys Kaliberda contributed 8 and 7 points in the victory.
Amir Ghafour finished with 9 points for Iran while Farhad Ghaemi, Seyed Mousavi and Mojatba Mirzajanpour had seven apiece.
One day after being crushed by France in consecutive sets, the German team were able to regroup and produce text-book volleyball to subdue the Asian team. The winners evened their win-loss record at 1-1 with 3 points in Pool G.
Key points
•It was the first match between the two teams in world championships
• Germany have not lost back-to-back matches in the tournament
•It was the third victory of Germany over Asian team in the tournament
Iran (0-1, 0) play France (1-0, 3) on Thursday to close the actions of the group and determine the two teams advancing to the Final Four phase.
The German side played exceptionally well at the net scoring with 12 blocks to 6 by their opponents and outserved the defeated side 8-2.
Very balanced game at the beginning of the first set had its reflection in the scores. At 3-3 Amir Ghafour displayed a hard spike and put Iran 4-3 ahead. With fine passing and Denys Kaliberda’s kills, Germany took 8-5 leading at the first technical timeout. Making a use of opponent’s problem in defence, Germany increased their advance do five points (11-6). As Vital Heynen’s players kept good passing and took the risk at the serve line, they were able to control the game. Farhad Ghaemi counter-attack put some hope on Iran’s side of the court and they started catching up. Following with point-serve by Ghaemi, Iran reduced the distance to three points (14-11). However, their chase was stopped with efficient block built by Denys Kaliberda and Lukas Kampa (19-13). As Iran couldn’t have found a way to score points in any element, Germany kept their leading till the end of the first set and finished it 25-15.
Coming back to the game refocused, both teams presented point-by-point game during first actions of the second set. Iran with aggressive serves by Mir Saeid Marouflakrani managed to gain 6-5 lead, but after a fierce finished with György Grozer’s kill, Germany jumped 8-6 ahead at the first technical timeout. With a fine spike series by M. Mojtaba Mirzajanpour, Iran took touch at 10-9 and gained 11-10 leading after a fine block by Eraghi Mousavi and Mirzajanpour followed by Germany’s technical error. Nonetheless, Germany didn’t stop and due to their great devotion in defence and displaying powerful serves, they run 16-14 ahead. Increasing their lead to four points (21-17), Germany went comfortably throughout the rest of the second set, winning it 25-21 with Marcus Böhme fine block.
On the contrary to previous sets, the third one began with 4-2 Germany’s lead. With Eraghi Mousavi’s spike, Iran tried to catch up, but a quick answer by Grozer prevented them from taking touch, as Germany kept their leading (6-5). Efficient block displayed by Farhad Ghaemi and Armin Tashakori helped Iran to go 8-7 ahead at the first technical timeout. Slobodan Kovac’s players, led by Armin Tashakori, regained the focus and believed they could change the scores when they reduced the distance to four points (12-8). However, it turned out not to be so safe leading, as Germany came to tie at 12-12 after astonishing serve-series by Grozer, who didn’t stop till the second technical timeout, when Germany were 16-12 ahead. Staying with great serves (by Jochen Schöps) and adding well-built blocks, Germany controlled the game and finished the third set 25-19.