2016 FIVB World League

My team:

S: Grankin
OPP: Poletaev
OH: Klyuka - Tetyukhin
MB's: Muserskiy - Volkov
L: Verbov

I wonder if we'll ever score in a counterattack...

I still can`t believe Serbia wont be playing at the Olympics and Mexico will...

Compared to the borefest between Bulgaria and Poland, Serbia vs. russia is a really entertaining match.

I've surely lost something.. Where is Ghafour? I heven't senn him for a while!

Iran played awfully this set, they didn't even try to do something good. Marouf isnn't impressing, Mahmoudi is for me so unreliable!

Iranian guys celebrated the first set win as if they had already won. Complete implosion followed.....

What two challenges called for the US!!!

Quote from Diesse14

I've surely lost something.. Where is Ghafour? I heven't senn him for a while!

Iran played awfully this set, they didn't even try to do something good. Marouf isnn't impressing, Mahmoudi is for me so unreliable!

Got injured during the Olympic qualifiers in Canada match. they had to play with not-fully-recovered Mahmoudi since then. interestingly they didn't even bring another opposite here ! Ghafour and Ghaemi will be out for the next weekend as well.

I think it was a good match in general, everybody had very low expectations , US was VERY lucky to not lose the 4th set. even Anderson didn't think his spike touched the line, that was a desperate challenge.

btw I really like Mobasheri, he is not talented for sure but he always brings joy and passion to the team. and his reception is better than MirzaJP and Zarini.

Please Iran let us win tomorrow I don't want to be relegated you can have the win in Tehran.

Who is 1st Referee in Italy v Belgium match?
He is very good looking..

Belgium still sleep, maybe They will wake up today.

mosi: thanks! I didn't remember about his injury.. I think he's pretty much needed for Iran, he must recover soon! I liked Ebadipour yesterday, he did well in all elements! I was disappointed by seyed and most of all by Marouf!

arman: yes Anderson touched the ball twice! Anyway it is a fair result, Iran has to show better things! Usa always took a good advantage but then spoilt it towards the end.. Both with argentina and iran!

I tried to watch games from all levels yesterday but it's hard to keep up with so many tournaments, divisions, time zones, and a football ECH going on

The tournament in Brazil is surely the most interesting in terms of quality. The 4 teams there are almost with their full rosters and the demonstrated level is good. Bruno Lima from Argentina and Mobasheri from Iran are probably the two new names worth mentioning. I watched Mobasheri too little to say something about him, besides Iran aren't showing their best volleyball, so it's way too early to judge. Bruno Lima, on the other side, is an interesting player. His style reminds me of Federico Pereyra, although I hope Lima, who is only 20, can improve and become a better player. Lima's attack technique is not optimal yet, he can surely find a better angle when he "closes" the ball. There is room for improvement but I understand what Velasco liked about him and why a 20-year-old is given the starting opposite position in an Olympic year. It's almost impossible for him to shine in his first senior NT matches against Brazil and USA and I will look forward to watching him more.

The Poland-Bulgaria match isn't worth mentioning. A highly demotivated Bulgarian side lost to Poland's B team in a training fashion. I had concerns about Seganov and, unfortunately, they are starting to materialize. The wins till now were only in friendlies and I didn't quite enjoy his game yesterday. As expected, setters issues will cause Bulgaria a lot of trouble. Furthermore, I don't know how this team will find motivation this summer to play even a single match to its potential.

The young Cubans with 2 tie-break wins against Asian teams in Japan. They are an interesting team to watch and will be a nice addition to the Olympic tournament. Meanwhile, the Czechs lost at home against Egypt's second team Not the best of starts for Falasca.

Qatar's team is full of legionaries. A bad surprise for me was their second setter Borislav Georgiev. I know he has played in Qatar for 2-3 years now but I didn't know he took Qatari citzenship and even represents their NT now... This is the setter with whom the Bulgarian Junior NT won the silver medals at the ECH in Belarus. Frankly speaking, he had tough times transitioning to senior volleyball and his lack of height was problematic for him in order to play with the NT, maybe this was the best decision he could've taken to make a name for himself somewhere. I am happy for him but I found it a bit overwhelming when I checked Qatar's squad this morning. And no one in Bulgaria has ever mentioned this, despite the fact that they were still writing about him and his team's scores in the Qatari league until recently.

Mexico without Carlos Guerra, their captain, lost to Spain at home. Villena is back on track and the only one with a contribution of 30+ points (32, to be precise) in the first round till now. Germany's defeat to Montenegro isn't that surprising based on Slobodan Boskan's ambitions and the fact that he arrived in Mexico with his full squad. However, Heynen still had some experienced players on court and I doubt he enjoyed losing that one.

YavorD Thank you for the overview.

It is an absolute travesty that Serbia won't be at the Olympics this summer. In my opinion, they are the 2nd best team in Europe, after France, and could go far in Rio. The structure of the qualifications is flawed and needs to be corrected immediately to avoid situations like this in the future. The best teams should be at the Olympic games PERIOD.

Quote from TheDiplomat

It is an absolute travesty that Serbia won't be at the Olympics this summer. In my opinion, they are the 2nd best team in Europe, after France, and could go far in Rio. The structure of the qualifications is flawed and needs to be corrected immediately to avoid situations like this in the future. The best teams should be at the Olympic games PERIOD.

If they are the second best team in Europe they should have proven it at the qualifier tournament where they lost 3-1 to Poland and 3-0 to Germany. Even if the system were the same as in London they wouldn't have qualified (Germany would).