Posts by mosi

last night Iran almost had no chance to qualify. something like 1% or even less. they needed Germany, USA, Ukraine (against Canada junior team) and Slovenia to lose and had to beat strong Bulgaria 3-0 or 3-1 to stand a chance but then all of a sudden all those unlikely scenarios happened and it came down to the 5th set and last point of Serbia/Slovenia match but then Serbia lost 3pts in a row and gave away the match you can't expect a more bitter sweet scenario.

but that's OK, it was a relatively good VNL campaign for Iran after two disastrous seasons in 2023 and 2024. the expectations were quite low this year. and on top of that specially if we consider the situation. they received the news regarding what was happening back home in middle of USA match (leading 2-0 but losing 3-2 eventually) and they had to stay away from the country for 2 months since it was impossible to travel back home during the break weeks. so maybe this VNL elimination was blessing in disguise. they need extra recovery time before the World Championship.

good to see Iran still can challenge some of the world top teams.

Quote from Julian Chow

At that stage (21-20) I thought they had a chance to take the 4th and then even the decider. At every match prior to this one they have lost the first set then recovered and win. It seems they needed time to get fired up.

and yes, the mess up didn't help at all

This is a very young team, despite the defeat today they still had a great tournament. the coach makes a lot of changes each match so it's understandable they need time in each match to find their rhythm

that was the right call by the federation, throwing away the lazy previous generation, they probably can still beat team but I like these girls much much more.

Iranian coach really messed up this match with her mistake. at 21-20 she made a double sub to serve and block better for 1 point but they were 5th and 6th subs (which the whole Iranian bench forgot) and forced to play the rest of set with this team which had 3 MBs and 2 setters + 1 opposite!!

never saw such a thing before Kazakhstan got away easily

Quote from Umu11

Salehi is still coming back from injury, I think. He was in libero jersey.

He is not injured but he claims his shoulder can't handle more than 2 matches in a week. he played half of the matches in this VNL

The previous coach's plan was to use him only in "winnable matches" which was a terrible idea.

OK silver isn't that bad after all for a bunch of so-called non-talented players

France was great, the best team throughout the tournament, but the final match could go the other way, Iran had its chances too

This Korean team is playing really good, now I can see how they beat Italy last night. It wasn't just Italy having a bad day

you have to fight for every single point against them. You can't lower your guard even for a minute. their libero is almost flawless. even Grebennikov should learn few lessons from him

it's amazing how some people open their mouths without even thinking a little

remove the beards and all those Iranian players look younger than most of other teams. most of them played in other age group competitions before without beards and nobody complained about their ages.

this is Amir Golzadeh in August 2022, does he look older than 20 here ? (this is just an example. you check the rest of the team yourself)

this is no secret that the previous IRIVF administrations looked the other way for years to get some age group results and create a profile for this sport in the country but that was long time ago (early 2000) it's not the case anymore. Volleyball is already an established sport here and who cares about age group medals , Iran has so many of them already

Feel sorry for China, I guess they didn't deserve to finish last.

Iran played 5 tie breaks in this VNL and lost them all . none of them were really close. which is interesting because Iran used to win close matches and had a good record in tie-breaks. but you can see the losing mentality in this team. I wasn't expecting this team with this weak roster to take 2 sets from Argentina and Cuba, they did that but then collapsed completely in the 5th set. Iran is a core team in VNL but probably not for long after this year's performance. (and I hope no core team exists anymore, that's unfair for the rest)

not much time left till the Asian Championship (at home) and the Olympic qualifiers. but I seriously think we are in a dead-end with this guy and need to replace the coach. this team is getting used to losing and that's dangerous.

I wasn't expecting more from this team with this dumb coach but 2 W and 6L is indeed terrible. and now people are realizing this guy sucks and it's still too early to trust a local coach to handle the NT. with some minor changes Iran could take more wins and lose less ranking points but not with this guy

but there is a good chance Iran's results in the next week won't be counted toward the ranking (because the team will be somehow incomplete). apparently IRIVF and FIVB reached an agreement (at least that's what IRIVF claims, yet to see the confirmation from FIVB) that Iran will send the team to USA under this condition. (IRIVF was about to boycott the last week for the reason everybody knows)

considering the poor performance so far, that would be blessing in disguise not losing more ranking points but who knows without this so-called "coach" we might end up winning some matches and regret this settlement

Quote from andrea

So the visa issue is resolved?

not yet

apparently FIVB gave them some promises

Quote from Jeniawithlove

This is unfair. Some can play for Iranian club but he can't play for Indonesian club? Manavinejad was good in Asian club champion but I'd love to see my Meisam Salehi baby back to NT.

well I agree with you

but the NT coach wasn't really happy to release players for the Iranian club too. he only allowed them to use their "last season squad" (they hired couple more NT players for the next season and would love to use them here as well)

btw interesting news for you, M. Salehi joined the NT training camp today which means he is not out for NT season (which is against his own interview, looks like he was just exaggerating about his injuries). and Javad MJ is in too. actually there are 18 players in the short list for the 1st VNL week

these guys are in the shortlist

S: Karimi, Vadi
MB: Mousavi, Fallah, Valizadeh, Jelveh
OP: Esmaeilnejad, Saadat, Hajipour
OH: Sharifi, Esfandiar, M. Salehi, Manavinejad, Daneshdoust, Khanzadeh, Homayounfarmanesh
L: Hazratpour, A. Salehi

from what i heard M. Salehi is not going to play in the 1st week

Quote from serdar

Why do they expell a player for playing abroad? Is it forbidden like in Cuba? Or was there anything special with Indonesian league?

of course not, he was playing in France this season

the coach simply didn't want him to leave the training camp for a short contract, it was something like "if you go don't ever come back"

(some players left the camp to play for the Iranian club Shahdab, coach didn't want to lose 1 more player)

Quote from Jeniawithlove

What? My baby Meisam Salehi is not in the Iranian team? I'm pissed!

Yeah that's Arman Salehi who has visa issues. not Meisam

I just read an interview with him, he says his old shoulder pain is back and he "temporarily" withdrew from the NT to tend his shoulder

that will leave only Esfandiar, Sharifi and the junior Khanzadeh as options for the NT in OH position. the coach might change his mind and call back Manavinejad who was expelled from the NT camp for joining an Indonesian club (and won silver in Asian Clubs)

Quote from Jeniawithlove

So because they're in the military reserves, they can't get a visa? Just move Iran to another pool.

they were in 2 years mandatory military service, not anymore. (1 more player + 2 coaches also denied visa)

IRIVF claims they won't send an incomplete team. all or none. we will see if it's just an empty threat or not. big test for FIVB to see how they will stand against the bully (don't except much though)

and in another news Meisam Salehi withdrew from the national team after his poor performance in Asian Clubs. he needs to work more on his injured (and not fully recovered) shoulder. will be a tough VNL for Iran without Ebadipour, Mojarrad and few others. players are leaving the NT one by one for different reasons,

Quote from Jeniawithlove

What makes you think of that?

some people think he has problems with the coach even though both deny it.

he is something like 30 (not 38 or something) had a great season, helped his team to win the Iranian league title and also won the MVP award but then all of a sudden the found out "he is old and had enough of national team career" he never said anything about that during the year. Iran has still few good Opposites but Ghafour at his prime is still better than all of them.

btw it was announced today that Milad Ebadipour will also take a break from the NT. he is having his first child and also has some minor injuries (which ruined his season in Italy) he will not play in the VNL but apparently will join the team later.

Quote from volleyb

How about Kazemi?

simply didn't get the call. he decided to play in Qatar and later Kuwait leagues, the NT coach didn't like his decision. even though at the time they probably thought with Ghafour, Esmaeilnejad and Saadat Iran has enough Opposites but now Ghafour decided to be a jerk. (I don't buy his excuse) maybe there is a chance for Kazemi too. unlikely though

Quote from hyunvwon

How about Toukhteh?

1 year doping ban. apparently took a medicine without reporting it.

well I think that was the worst version of Iran vs the worst version of Brazil.

Brazil was very beatable today but not for this team. with this losing mentality they could lose to even Tunisia tonight.

Japan is a great team and they proved it once again against the Olympic Champion. that serve error by Ishikawa at 15-14 was the key. I feel France was ready to make another mistake but Ishikawa simply saved them.

Sekita is a good setter in general but yes he had some questionable decisions tonight.

it was funny to see American reserve players dancing in middle of the 5th set when the score was tied. they were supposed to be nervous in such an important match.

I believe Americans didn't really realize they are in danger of elimination until 11-11 in 5th set.

Great job by Turkey, they were just inches away from a big win.