THE Philippines and Iran have built quite a rivalry in men's basketball over the years.
This time, it will be Alas Pilipinas Men's turn to challenge the Iranians in a new sporting arena come the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship on home soil.
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Iran is poised to become the Philippines' toughest foe in the competition on paper, with their duel set to close out the group stage on Sep. 18, 5:30 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The three-time reigning Asian Games champion is the second-highest ranked Asian nation in the 32-team field at No. 13, just eight spots behind Japan at No. 5.
It is also the highest-ranked team in Alas Pilipinas' group which also features world No. 23 Egypt and No. 43 Tunisia.
Bringing in Asia's finest
'Team Melli,' as Iran is called in the men's volleyball scene, will be led by two of Asia's most decorated stars in opposite hitter Amin Esmaeilnezhad and former Asian Volleyball Confederation best setter Javad Karimi.
Esmaeilnezhad, 28, will be among Iran's super seniors in a young team with an average age of just 23.8 years and an average height of 6-foot-5. He has also been regarded as the best player in his position in all of Asian volleyball today.
Team Melli went on a series of training camps in the same three countries the Philippines paid visits to over the last few months in Morocco, Romania and Portugal.
They are expected to arrive in the country early with a pair of tuneup matches against fellow World Championship teams scheduled days before the tournament opener against Slovenia on Sep. 9 and Germany on Sep. 10.
Also guided by an Italian coach in Roberto Piazza just like all four teams in Pool A, Iran is eyeing another major international breakthrough after recording its best finish in the prestigious Volleyball Nations League (VNL) last month at ninth place.
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