Iran’s Mohammad Mousavi Aims at VNL Medals
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian national volleyball team middle blocker Mohammad Mousavi says they want to win a medal at the 2019 Volleyball Nations League.
Iran stormed back as one of the best teams in the league so far. With star players, Mousavi, leading the way, they are placed second in the current standings on an 11-2 win-loss record.
“Yes, we expected it,” 31-year-old Mousavi confirmed.
“We started our preparation in very good shape. We do well in every practice. And without injuries! Because of the many injuries of important players in the last two seasons we couldn’t produce good results. But this year all the experienced players and all the young players, who joined the team, brought in high quality, so everything’s perfect. I cannot say we knew beforehand that we would be first or second, but I was sure we would qualify among the first six teams,” Mousavi told fivb.org.
Mousavi is already looking forward to the finals in Chicago from July 10 with the hope of a podium finish.
“All six teams will be great, but we are looking for a medal. Every match will be important. I know it will be difficult, because we’re all tired after playing all these games, but there is some time to take some rest and recover, so we can go to Chicago in a perfect shape to have a perfect performance and get a good result,” said the 200-cm-tall athlete.
“Our federation has been working a lot with the youth and hiring good coaches to train them. More and more young people come to volleyball and, step by step, the sport is growing,” he analyzed.
“Some of the best coaches in the world also come to Iran to teach us how to win. 10 years ago, we played well, but we did not have the knowledge and the confidence in the important moments to close a match with a victory. We had potential to be in the top 10, but we needed confidence to help us get the results. After some bad results in the last two years, this season we started with three wins in China and regained our confidence, which helped us continue winning.”
“The fans in Iran are number one in the world,” stated Mousavi. “I’ve played everywhere, but the Iranian spectators have no match – they are the best. And there are so many people who follow volleyball. When we’re playing, maybe 40 million watch the game on TV. We are so lucky and this is an opportunity to thank them for following us and supporting us.”