IRAN proved its upset win over USA was no fluke by outlasting the Netherlands in another five-set thriller, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-10, to stay unbeaten in the 2024 Volleyball Men’s Nations League (VNL) Manila leg on Thuesday
Doubling down on its breakthrough win from an 0-8 start in the preliminaries, the Iranian scoring duo of Amin Esmaeilnezhad and Poriya Hossein Firouzjah fired 29 and 27 points, respectively, in their rise to 15th place in the 16-team field at 2-8.
Iran captain Milad Ebadipour lauded Iran's newfound winning form, but rued the tournament’s tight scheduling with less than 24 hours separating their opening upset of the Americans then second straight win over the Dutch side.
“I’m so happy because we started the third leg with a victory and also today in our second game after (what feels) like six hours only,” said Milad.
“It’s ridiculous from the VNL, from the FIVB. I don’t know how they organized this tournament because it’s impossible to play without rest. But I’m really happy to win these two games. These two games for us are really important,” he added.
READ: Iran sends Team USA crashing in VNL Manila upset
VNL leading scorer and Netherlands captain Nimir Abdel-Aziz followed his 38-piece in the Manila leg opener with a 37-point display built on 27 attacks, a whopping nine aces, and one block.
However, for the second game running, his stellar solo scoring exploits went for naught as the the Dutch’s Olympic and VNL playoff hopes dimmed further at 3-7 and 13th place.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
