WHAT a difference a dramatic win made.
Iran held off Serbia 23-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-22, 15-9 in their Round of 16 clash in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Morteza Sharifi showed the way for the world No. 16 Iranians with 23 points while Ali Hajipour Moghaddam Farouji also had 23 markers.
Ali Haghparast added 18 and Mohammad Valizadeh 10 as Iran advanced to the Last Eight despite nearly losing—and packing its bag—after a close victory over Alas Pilipinas Thursday last week and completed the quarterfinals picture of the blue-ribbon world showpiece.
“I’m happy. We are all happy, of course. That was a crucial game, but the most crucial one was against the Philippines. Maybe we trained perfectly for that, because we ended up winning an amazing match,” Iran coach Roberto Piazza said. “It was truly a special one at one point, we had lost everything. And for one video challenge, one check and now here we are, talking about the future. That was the turning point.
“We’ve been preparing the team, all of us coaches, to be ready to play at this level. To be able to play three five-set matches in a row: 3-2, 3-2, 3-2. That’s the mindset we need to have during this tournament,” he added.
Earlier, Czechia trounced Tunisia 25-19, 25-18, 25-23 in the other final 16 match to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.
The Czechs and Iranians dispute a semifinals berth on Thursday at the same venue.
“It doesn’t matter who we will play. We need to show all the time our best because nobody here is easy. We have to prepare ourselves maximum physically as we can and we’ll see what will happen,” Czech star Patrik Indra said. “But we need to come with the same pressure like today and we will see what happens.”
