Iran coach Slobodan Kovac humbly recognised the influence of his predecessor Argentina coach Julio Velasco to his players
Bydgoszcz Poland, September 11, 2014 – Iran coach Slobodan Kovac continued the strong work of his predecessor Argentina mentor Julio Velasco, where Kovac’s team made a powerful straight sets win over Argentina in Pool E of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship at the Luczniczka Hall on Thursday.
Iran coach Slobodan Kovac: “We played very good today. My players were motivated to win because Julio Velasco has been their coach for the last three years. I tried to continue his work. I really appreciate the way my team played in service and counter-attacks. I have noticed the difference between the last two matches, as we were too sure against Australia. Today we changed our attitude towards our opponent and my team played definitely better. The result says everything – we won 3-0.
“When it comes to the next match against Poland, I think that on the stands, our fans will be outnumbered by the Polish fans. There are many Iranian volleyball fans from all over the world who support us, but this time we will not have as much as we want when we play the hosts. On the court, we will do our best to win against Poland.”
Iran captain Mir Saeid Marouflakrani: “It was a nice match, we have shown very good service today, our best so far in the tournament as we earned a lot of points from it. I hope we can continue on the same level against Poland and Serbia.”
Argentina coach Julio Velasco: “I think the match today against Iran was played in top level. They really have the chances to go really far in the tournament. Their tactical service posed many difficulties for us. Their attackers were also better in the block, keeping a balance between all the elements of the play. Since I left this team, the players have developed as individuals and as a team. That is why they made it to this stage. I think they are at this stage that they have become a very good team that even on their worse day, they can still play well. I think the last two matches can teach us something. We have to open our mind so we can learn a lesson from it.”
Argentina captain Javier Filardi: “It was a very bad day for our team although we tried to play better than yesterday. Iran proved to be better today.”