Hamamatsu, Japan, September 13, 2015 – Russia edged Iran 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-20) in the first round of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup at Hamamatsu Arena on Sunday.
Russia coach Vladimir Alekno: “We needed tonight’s victory. We played Iran seven times before and this is our second victory against them. Iran are really difficult to play against and tonight we showed what we can do with our best.”
Russia captain Dmitriy Muserskiy: “This match against Iran was a great match. We had a friendly match against them in Moscow, which actually helped us prepare well for tonight’s match.”
Iran coach Slobodan Kovac: “Congratulations to Russia for their victory today. They played really well. I think they played well especially in the first set, where we lost because of crucial mistakes. We must stop committing mistakes but we must not forget that we need to continue to fight. There were moments in the match wherein we played so badly.”
Iran captain Mir Saeid Marouflakrani: “I think we played bad in this match. We started well in the first two sets but we lost our concentration after the second technical timeouts. We are playing World Cup champions Russia and we cannot play in this kind of situation. Now, we need to look forward to our next match.”