Substitutions Helped Us to Beat Serbia: Saeid Marouf
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Captain of the Iranian national volleyball team Saeid Marouf believes that the substitutions helped them to come back to the match against Serbia at the FIVB World League.
On Friday, Iran achieved an incredible comeback from two sets down to defeat Serbia 3-2 (16-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 16-14) at the Azadi Hall in Tehran.
“Serbia was the only undefeated team in Group 1 of the World League this year. We knew the match would be very difficult. I expected to begin the match very evenly, but Serbia opened the match better and dominated the first two sets and we were not able to perform our plans,” Marouf said.
“I am happy with the substitutions we made which helped our team get the results and we came back to the game in the third set. We showed the real power of Iran in the third and fourth sets. The fifth set was so close and I think the players’ individual skill helped us in the crucial moments of the game."
"Anyway, it was a sweet win for us as we stopped Serbia and managed their first loss,” he added.
Iran has been scheduled to face Italy and Argentina on Saturday and Sunday respectively.