Iran setter Mehdi Mahdavi carries coach Raul Lozano after they won 3-2 over Canada
Tokyo, Japan, May 29, 2016 – Iran coach Raul Lozano highlighted that they only got the defensive rhythm in the third set, while Canada coach Glenn Hoag felt his team’s 3-2 match on Saturday made it more difficult coming into their match against Iran.
Iran coach Raul Lozano: “Canada showed good level of play today. They had a hard match yesterday and had to come back this morning and play. I'm happy with the result. We were close in the first set but could not control the tempo. We got our rhythm back so our defence was better from the third set.”
Iran captain Saeid Marouflakrani: “We knew Canada are a strong team. The first set was tough. In the third set we came back. Everybody helped today. It was a great victory to inspire us for our next matches.”
Iran player Seyed Mousavi: “This was an important match against Canada. We knew it would be tough for them after their match yesterday. We lost 3-0 against them last year. They played good with defence and offence. Everybody in our team played hard and that resulted to a victory.”
Canada coach Glenn Hoag: “We knew it would be difficult today after playing five sets yesterday. We lost some of our freshness after the second set. They made some key substitutions after the second set. We have to focus on our next matches after the rest day.”
Canada captain Rudy Verhoeff: “It's tough to talk about this match. We started well and we knew it would be a battle. We did not execute and did not make plays when it mattered. They played well and had better defence and transition. We will try to reset on the rest day. We need to get wins on the table.”