Today, August 1st, at 19:40, Japan will face Iran in a match to advance to the final tournament for the first time in 29 years since the Barcelona Olympics. In this article, we would like to introduce our Asian rival, the Iranian team, ahead of this fateful showdown!
Member (Tokyo Olympics)
Number Name Position/Age/Height/Highest achievement Club
#2 Milad Ebadipur OH/ 27/ 196/ 342 Belchatov (Poland)
#4 Seyed Ma'arouf (C) S/ 35/ 189/ 331 Beijing (China)
#6 Mohammad Seyed Mousavi MB/ 33/ 200/ 362 Fenerbahce (Türkiye)
#9 Masoud Golani MB/ 30/ 200/ 349 Urmia
10 Amir Ghafur OP/ 29/ 202/ 354 Isfahan
11 Saber Kazemi OP/ 22/ 205/ 340 –
12 Morteza Sharifi OH/ 22/ 193/ 340 Hayriliye (Türkiye)
15 Ali Asghhar Mojarrad MB/ 23/ 205/ 330 Sirjan
17 Meisam Salehi OH/ 22/ 198/ 345 Olsztyn (Poland)
19 Mehdi Marandi L/ 35/ 172/ 295 Isfahan
21 Arman Salehi L/ 28/ 180/ 295 Gonbad
24 Javad Karimi S/ 23/ 204/ 330 Maaseik (Belgium)
Head Coach: Vladimir Alekno (Russia)
Main starting lineup
Outside hitters: 2 Milad, 17 Salehi
Middle blockers: 6 Sayed, 15 Mojarrad
Opposite: 10 Ga'Hool
Setter: 4 Maloof
Libero: 19 Marandi, 21 Salehi
The libero is a switch libero, with Marandi responsible for receiving serves and Salehi for digging.
Results so far
- Poland: 3-2 (18-25, 25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 23-21)
- Venezuela: 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-18)
- Canada vs. 0-3 (16-25, 20-25, 22-25)
- Italy: 1-3 (28-30, 21-25, 25-21, 21-25)
2 wins, 2 losses, 5 points
Team Characteristics
Starting this year, the Iranian national team will be aiming to win a medal, under the guidance of the famous Russian coach Aleksino, who led the Russian national team to a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics. The center of the team is the captain and setter,MaloofA 35-year-old veteran player, his skillful and untargetable setting, playful and tricky play, and his appearance with a full beard make him a true magician on the court. He is a role model for many players around the world, including France's genius setter Toniutti. He is undoubtedly the number one setter in Asia. At Siena in the Italian Serie A, he was also teammates with Japan's Yuki Ishikawa.
Setter Maloof
And the Iranian source of points in response to this toss from Marouf was the oppositeGa'HooleIn this tournament, he has scored 59 points in four games, the most on his team. He is a speedy spiker who excels at quick attacks, but he also has a strong ability to score with high sets (two-stage tosses). He also has a strong serve, and in the match against Italy, he gave the Italian receivers a hard time with a jump serve that went right into the corner. He is also one of the world's top opposites, having played in the Italian Serie A. He has also been one of Iran's outside hitters for many years.MiladWe cannot ignore the presence of. Compared to his diagonal opponent Salehi, he plays a more defensive role, but he also has plenty of offensive power, especially his sharp pipe attacks. His serves have also been going well in this tournament, with 10 service aces in the four matches so far, and as of the end of the fourth day he is leading the serving rankings (although it looks like he will be overtaken by Leon of Poland today lol). Middle blockerSayyedHe also makes his presence felt with his blocks and quick kicks. His quick kicks in particular are aggressive even when he is far from the net, and his spike power is among the most destructive in the world among mid-range players.
Ace of Ga'Hoole
Iran is slightly inferior to European teams in terms of height (although they are much taller than Japan), but like Japan, they have strong defense and a diverse attack in which the setter distributes sets to each attacker in a balanced manner, making it difficult for them to focus on one target. In addition to the three on the side, Seyed in the middle also hits jump serves, and the serve fired from the left arm of relief server Kazemi is also super powerful. They break down the opponent with their serves and finish them off with blocks.
Outlook for Japan vs. Iran match
Japan has beaten Iran in both this year's Nations League and the 2019 World Cup, but the two teams are closely matched and it would not be surprising if either of them won. In particular, they achieved the feat of beating Poland in the first match of this tournament, and their team is very well-rounded. But the same can be said for Japan. Therefore, today's match will be very tough. As in the past, Japan will have to respond to the opponent's powerful serves with a solid defense, and then hit the opponent with an offensive serve, winning the so-called serve battle, is an absolute condition for victory. In the match against Iran, they will have to do whatever it takes to get that last hit that they didn't get in the matches against Italy and Poland. Nishida's serve in particular is expected to be the one. I want Nishida to get at least two aces! Of course, I also want Ishikawa and Aiku to have an ace. In this tournament, Iran has only three outside hitters registered, instead of two liberos. So if Japan's serve can crush even one of the starting outside hitters, I think they will be able to advance in the match very advantageously. Personally, I think it would be better to target the young player, No. 22 Salehi. He is easier to break down. Either way, there is no victory without an aggressive serve. A few serve errors are unavoidable. If you don't attack your serve, you will lose. Do your best. Really do your best. Go Japan. Let's all witness this moment of joy!!!
Broadcast Schedule
August 1st (Friday) 19:40 ~ Japan vs Iran
Television broadcast
- NHK-BS1 19:25~
Webcast
Photo: FIVB
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