Volleyball Nations League:
Iran will have to ‘take lessons’ from Week 1 setback, Ebadipour says
Iranian captain Milad Ebadipour says his young teammates will have to “take lessons” from their mistakes in Week 1 of the Volleyball Nations League.
Mauricio Motta Paes’s side suffered 3-1 defeats against Serbia and Cuba either side of a straight-set loss to reigning world champion Italy before signing off in the first week of action with a five-set setback against Argentina in Rio de Janeiro.
The result left Iran bottom of the 16-team table, with the Asian powerhouse drifting further away from an Olympic berth through the FIVB Men’s Ranking by the end of the preliminary round.
The Iranian squad is in Fukuoka, Japan, for Week 2 of the annual event – starting with a game against the formidable host on Tuesday.
“I believe we did enough to claim at least two victories in week one. They were decisive matches for us and we could have closed the gap on the Olympic berth. Unfortunately, that did not happen but we have to move on,” said the Iranian outside-hitter, who tops the league’s best-receivers list with 29 successful attempts.
“We have eight crucial games ahead of us and could still finish on a high,” added Ebadipour.
“I can only say that I was pretty satisfied with the way each and every player preformed in the first week as they gave it their all and that’s the important thing for the team.
“Mistakes are part of this game but we can’t afford to repeat the schoolboy errors that cost us in the first four matches and our younger players will have to take lessons from those mistakes for the rest of the way. Those tiny errors can decide the final outcome of a game when you play the big national teams,” said Ebadipour.
When asked about the first match in Week 2 against Japan, which beat Iran in the previous two meetings between the two Asian foes, Ebadipour said: “It is definitely going to be a tough contest against the Japanese home crowd. Japan has made huge progress over the past few years and came out on top against some of the best teams in the world.
“Our team also showed signs of improvement in the final two games in the first week. I believe more important the result for us will be to avoid making costly errors.”
Brazil will come Iran’s way on Thursday with the games against Bulgaria and VNL debutant Turkey also on the fixtures list for Paes’s side.
Ebadipour hopes the Iranian players will use the experience of playing Brazil in three friendlies before Week 1 to their advantage when facing the South American heavyweight in Fukuoka, though it will still be a gigantic task against the “most decorated team in the world.”
“We’re talking about Brazil here – a winner of numerous Olympic golds and silvers. They can change their gameplan for each rally throughout the game. It will be a grueling test for us but I’m confident our team will come up with a better performance than the previous outings,” Ebadipour said.
Many believe the games against Bulgaria and Turkey, which won a single game between them in Week 1, will be easy contests for Iran, but Ebadipour has other ideas.
“Nothing is predictable in sports. We still have to be on our best form and put in all our efforts to secure victories against those opponents.”