Volleyball Nations League:
Iran edges the Dutch to close in on Finals spot
Amin Esmaeilnejad and Pouria Hosseinkhanzadeh led the way as Iran salvaged a 3-2 victory (25-19, 22-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-9) over the Netherlands in their final outing in Week 2 of the FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League in Belgrade, Serbia.
The hard-fought win helped the Asian powerhouse move up to 10th in the 18-team table with a 4-4 record and stay in contention with a place in the VNL Finals in Ningbo, China.
The top seven of the preliminary-round table will be joined by China in the Finals – starting with the quarterfinals on July 30.
Sunday’s result also meant Iran has already won as many games in this year’s preliminary phase as in the previous two editions combined.
Having suffered a 3-1 loss to Germany at the Belgrade Arena on the preceding day, Iran was much more prolific in attack, outscoring the Dutch by 62-57, while capitalizing on the abundant unforced errors (35) by the European opponent, which is now under a serious threat of relegation – sitting second from bottom in the table with a 1-7 record.
Esmaeilnejad chipped in a joint game-high 22 points – alongside Dutch opposite Michiel Ahyi.
The Iranian opposite spiker signed off with a 61% success rate in attack, two kill blocks and an ace, while 20-year-old Hosseinkhanzadeh added 21 points, including two aces, and his cross-court teammate Ehsan Daneshdoust finished with 14 points to his name.
As many as four other players finished in double figures on the Dutch side – outside-hitters Bennie Tuinstra (13) and Tom Koops (11), as well as middle blockers Twan Wiltenburg and Cornelis Luuc van Der Ent with 11 apiece. The two middles put up as many as nine kill blocks combined – six and three, respectively.
“I should first say congrats to the other team, because they played great! Of course, we played better than yesterday. We should continue to improve, because we have good talent, good young players, and we also have a good coach to head the team. Every game is important for us and we should just think about the next one,” Esmaeilnejad told VBTV after the match.
Iran head coach Roberto Piazza, meanwhile, was thrilled to see his men “change their mindset in the fourth set” to stage a comeback.
Asked what was the biggest challenge for his team against his former employers, the Italian said: “The toughest challenge was their tactical serving strategy. They targeted specific zones with their serves, which at times troubled our setter. They also effectively pressured Iran’s middle blocker, managing to get a touch on most of our attacks.”
Piazza and his men will still have to overcome some formidable tests in the third and final week of action in the preliminaries in Gdańsk, Poland, to secure a first last-eight spot since in three years.
A first game for Iran in Week 3 will come against European powerhouse Poland – second in the table with six wins – on July 16, followed by an all-Asian encounter against China.
Piazza’s men will square off against reigning Olympic and VNL champion France on July 19, before facing Bulgaria the following day at the Ergo Arena.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Brazil defeated Poland 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 28-26) in the clash of the titans to finish the second week on top of the table with seven victories.
Third-placed Italy made a quick work of USA in straight sets (25-21, 25-22, 25-18) to move level on a 6-2 record alongside Poland.
Japan is fourth with five wins, thanks to a 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-16) victory over Slovenia on Sunday, with France, which eased past Türkiye in straight sets, in the fifth place.
Ukraine, the surprise package at this year’s event, came from behind to beat Bulgaria in four sets in Burgas and stand sixth, followed by Argentina, Germany, Cuba, and Iran.