Varna, Bulgaria, September 13, 2018 - Iran surprised co-host Bulgaria and finally won against them at an FIVB Men’s World Championship after two unsuccessful tries in 1970 and 2006. In front of about 5000 spectators the Asian Games champions defeated the Bulgarian team by 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19).
Igor Kolakovic, head coach of Iran: “We enjoyed the game and Bulgaria played well. I thank my players for the patience they showed and of course for the win against a very well prepared and experienced team like Bulgaria. We tried to control the game in all sets, but the crowd reflected on us and probably that was the reason for losing the third set."
Milad Ebadipour, player of Iran: “It was a very difficult game for each player in our team. I am happy about the result as well as about our general participation in the tournament. Tonight the crowd made the game amazing.”
Plamen Konstantinov, head coach of Bulgaria: “First of all we did not serve well and we lost many points because of serve errors. In addition Iran had a very stable receiving. I think their setter showed some really classy actions. My team was a little bit nervous because of all the expectations we have as a host and because of our supporters’ hopes. We just could not come back in the game after the mistakes we made at the beginning.”
Teodor Salparov, libero of Bulgaria: “Iran definitely played better than us. Their setter did great job and made all the attackers feel comfortable on the court and we could not organize our blocking. We knew that we had to attack them with serve but unfortunately we did not manage to do it. It was a very important game for our ranking in Pool D but on the other hand there will be 3 more matches and nothing is decided yet.”