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 
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
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)
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)
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, 
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.
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
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.
our coach completely blew up everything in the 4th set. Iran was leading 13-6 but lost it 18-25 !!! Piazza should seriously thank him for those subs. Ataei completely ignored the problem (which was the reception) and subbed the players who were actually doing OK. I mean Esmaeilnejad was terrible the whole tournament but he got subbed right when he was doing good !
it's easy to control the team in normal situations but today match was different, he simply lost his control over the bench and the players weren't listening to him at some point.
I had no hope on this coach to be honest but those VNL results changed my mind, now I know my original thought was correct. they weren't under pressure during VNL but that 4th set meltdown under pressure clearly shows this guy is not right for the job.
Does anyone know why one of the Egyptian players has “L3BA” on his jersey?
that's probably his nickname, that means "Game" in Arabic
on the internet (and never officially) people sometimes use numbers when they transliterate some Arabic letters into English. I believe his nickname should be written as Lo'ba in a proper transliteration
I was going to ask about him. Is he injured or something? I think he performed poorly in the friendlies too.
No injuries . He is just playing bad. Looks like his dream days are over. I would give a chance to Kazemi
