Coaches and Players Reflect on Foolad Vs Kuwait

The head coach of Foolad Sirjan expressed that today they aimed to use all players to ensure they received the necessary motivation. “I believe in all my players and know when and how to use each one,” he stated.

According to the Communications Department of the Volleyball Federation, the quarterfinal stage of the 26^th Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship continued today (Thursday, September 12) with four matches held at Shahdad Yazd Hall.

Foolad Sirjan faced Sporting Club (Kuwait) in the final match of this round at 8 PM, winning decisively with a score of 3-0, thereby completing the lineup for the semifinals of this year’s championship.

Coaches and players from both teams shared their thoughts after the match:

Behrouz Ataei, Head Coach of Foolad Sirjan:

“I congratulate Sirjan team and the people of Iran for having two Iranian teams advance to the semifinals. We all know that competing against teams that are not very strong can be challenging. The Kuwaiti team was quite ordinary and did not apply much pressure on us. Our main focus was to keep our players engaged in the game and execute our strategies, which we managed to some extent. Overall, I am satisfied with our performance and happy that we reached the semifinals. The Indonesian team has two Olympic gold medalists and quality players. We all know that volleyball is a team sport and relies on more than one or two players. While quality players can have an impact, they cannot carry the team alone. In the matches we’ve played so far, we haven’t given our all because none of our opponents posed a serious threat. I hope we perform well tomorrow; given Indonesia’s gameplay, we will conduct a thorough analysis to ensure we emerge victorious. The injury of Mirzajanpour today does not prevent him from playing, but we decided not to use Seyed Mohammad Mousavi based on the doctor’s recommendation after his treatment over the past two days. We hope he will be fully fit by then. Our starting lineup will remain unchanged; I generally do not believe in making unnecessary changes during a match. Today, we tried to involve all players to motivate them. I believe in all my players and know when to use each one.”

Taner Atik, Head Coach of Sporting Club (Kuwait):

“The reason we lost today is that Sirjan has been training for about three months while we only had ten days of practice. For us, this tournament was more of a training session, but not for our opponent. Today, Sirjan applied significant pressure with their serves, and we could not effectively use our side outs, which contributed to our loss. Sirjan played with a complete team while Shahdad did not. Based on my experiences, Sirjan has a better chance of winning this competition.”

Ali Hajipour, Setter for Foolad Sirjan:

“Our group was relatively easy; we considered our first match against Afghanistan as a warm-up. We have competed with full strength so far while respecting all teams, improving with each game as we progress step by step. I had a serious injury that many thought would keep me out for a long time. I worked hard during my recovery period of one year and two months to reach this point and think about advancing further. Last year, I spent about a week with Foolad Sirjan. This team has passionate volleyball fans, and I thank those who traveled from Sirjan to support us. Today, during the first point of the game, I experienced discomfort in my lower back due to a spasm from a one-legged landing, but I hope it resolves before our next match.”

Fernando Hernandez, Setter for Sporting Club (Kuwait):

“Today’s game was very good. Sirjan has been training for three months and has a great lineup; however, our team only had 15 days for practice due to some players being engaged in national competitions. If we had more time, we would have performed better. Based on the games so far, I believe the two Iranian teams have demonstrated the best quality and have a higher chance of winning. Saeed Marouf is exceptional; we were teammates in Italy.”