Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 18, 2016 – After two matches with no victory, Argentina and Iran were eager earn their first win of the 2016 FIVB World League. In the end it was Iran who prevailed in a five-set match (25-22, 25-20, 21-25, 13-25 and 15-11) on Saturday.
Bruno Lima, Argentina, player: It was a tough match. We had the opportunity to win. I have a bittersweet feeling as we could have won, but also we improved our game from the other two previous matches.
Raul Lozano, Iran, coach: It is always hard dor me when I have to face Argentina. Julio Velasco is a great friend. I would rather to not be in that situation, but that is sport. We had a great game with a good performance on the side-out. We almost did not commit any mistakes in the tiebreak. But there is still room for improvements.
Saeid Marouf, Iran, captain: We played well against Argentina. The third and the fourth sets were tougher and the Argentinians showed a strong block and defense. We took all the opportunities we had in the tiebreak to win the match.