FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League:
Iran coach Piazza questions team’s mindset after Belgium defeat
Head coach Roberto Piazza was left frustrated by Iran’s error-ridden fifth set in a defeat to Belgium in Brasilia on Sunday, questioning whether his team has the right mindset for the Volleyball Nations League.
Piazza’s side fought back from two sets down to force the contest into a decider, but eventually lost 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 17-25, 15-12) to finish the opening week of the preliminary round with a 1-3 record and four points, sitting 15th in the 18-team standings.
Iranian outside hitter Ali Haqparast emerged as the match’s top scorer with 27 points, including two aces and two blocks, while opposite Ali Hajipour (11 points) and outside hitter Pouria Hosseinkhanzadeh (10), who was forced off injured midway through the third set, also reached double figures.
Young opposite Ferre Reggers, meanwhile, led the scoring for Belgium with 24 points, while 22-year-old outside hitter Pierre Perin excelled from the service line with five aces to finish with 20 points.
The defining spell of the contest came in the fifth set, when Iran made several service errors to allow Belgium to open a four-point lead. The Europeans never looked back, improving to 2-2 and moving into 10th place in the standings with five points.
“We fell behind because they were able to finish everything in the first two sets and we lost our mindset, but then we were back in the game in the third and fourth sets,” Piazza said after the defeat.
“In the fifth set, we made six mistakes on serve. That means you're still not used to playing in this tournament. This is not a normal tournament; it's a particular one," added the Italian, whose team is the second-youngest in the competition with an average age of 23.
When asked what he told his players after a third defeat in four outings, Piazza said: “That will stay with the players. It certainly won't come from me. But I'm sure one of the players will talk about it – I'm 100 percent sure. In my opinion, everything should stay in the locker room, though I know that's not the case here and that that's a problem.”
Hajipour, meanwhile, regretted the “childish mistakes” that repeatedly undermined Iran in the Brazilian capital.
"I'd rather not talk right now about why we started the match the way we did," said Hajipour, who finished Week 1 as Iran’s leading scorer with 61 points. "But we need to learn how to finish strongly even when we don't start well."
"There are some mistakes that really damage this team – childish mistakes," he said. "Serving is also a major issue. We make too many errors and keep paying the price for them. It happened against Brazil and it happened again in this match."
Hajipour was particularly critical of Iran's serving in the deciding set.
"When I think about the fifth set, we had already made six or seven service errors before the midway point," he said. "That simply cannot happen."
"In my opinion, when the opposing team is under pressure and we have a chance to beat them, all we need is a safe, routine serve. That should be enough to help us win the match.
"I hope that with more effort and more practice on these details, we can correct our small mistakes and be better prepared than ever for the coming weeks," Hajipour added.
Iran began the preliminaries with a 3-1 loss to South American powerhouse Brazil before suffering a straight-sets defeat to Bulgaria. The team responded by sweeping Argentina 3-0 for its only victory of the opening week.
Chasing a first VNL Finals appearance in four years, Iran will travel to Orléans, France, for the second week of competition, opening against host nation and reigning Olympic champion France at the CO’Met Arena on June 24. That will be followed by matches against the United States (June 25), Japan (June 26) and Cuba (June 28).
The third and final week of the preliminary phase will see Iran face Ukraine in Belgrade on July 15, followed by matches against Germany (July 16), Slovenia (July 17) and Türkiye (July 19).
The top eight teams in the 18-team standings will advance to the VNL Finals in Ningbo Beilun, China, beginning on July 29. China has already secured a place in the quarterfinals as the host nation.