Coaches and Players Reflect on Iraq Vs Afghanistan

The head coach of the Kam Air volleyball team from Afghanistan expressed hope that the team’s upward trend would continue, allowing them to deliver better performances in this tournament.

According to the Communications Department of the Volleyball Federation, Kam Air (Afghanistan), without any wins, faced Gas Al-Janoob (Iraq), who had one win and one loss, today at 2 PM (Tuesday, September 11) in the Men’s Asian Club Volleyball Championship. The Afghan representative emerged victorious with a score of 3-0.

After the match, coaches and players from both teams shared their thoughts:

Hamid Movahedi, Head Coach of Kam Air (Afghanistan): 

“I would like to first thank the spectators and citizens of Yazd for their support and encouragement for the Afghan team. The Afghan team is improving day by day by identifying and addressing its weaknesses. Due to a lack of time and training facilities, our players were unable to practice effectively. We had no preparatory matches and entered the tournament directly. I hope that we can maintain this upward trend until the end and deliver better performances in this competition.”

Alaa Khalaf, Head Coach of Gas Al-Janoob (Iraq): 

“This is the first time an Iraqi team has lost to Afghanistan. I have great respect for the Afghan team, but my players were fatigued. I substituted players during the match and was unable to use foreign players. The toughest part of this competition for us is facing Shahdab in the upcoming matches. I did my best in this game; I changed the setter and the opposite hitter, but one of our middle blockers was injured, and I couldn’t substitute him. Volleyball is not like football; you can’t just score a goal and then defend. Afghanistan fought well against Al-Rayyan, but my players seemed unfocused and could not perform effectively.”

Lutfullah Azizi, Middle Blocker of Kam Air (Afghanistan): 

“The Afghan team lacks experience in high-level competitions like this. I want to express my gratitude to the president and all our friends at the Volleyball Federation. I hope that Afghanistan can achieve more victories in this tournament.”

Islam Sachit, Middle Blocker of Gas Al-Janoob (Iraq): 

“We underestimated our opponent and never expected to lose to Afghanistan. We made many errors in this match; we had weak defense and completely let go of the game. Our opponent capitalized on our weaknesses and managed to win. In this defeat, we, the players, are to blame; the coach did not underperform, and I apologize to the people of Iraq for this loss.”