Tehran, Iran, July 8, 2016 - Coach Raul Lozano spoke to the press with the national volleyball team of Iran's training programme for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to begin in earnest.
“We are setting up a step-by-step goal for the Olympic Games. We will try to claim wins and first place in the Preliminary Round. Only then will we think of the quarterfinals and taking on strong teams which could include France, Brazil or Italy.
“We have 14 training days before Rio, which is a good opportunity. The players have rested for a few days, but the training session is now defined for them. The priority goes to fitness training and working on individual techniques; then the group will work on playing together.”
Lozano added: “The final composition of the Iran team for the Olympics cannot yet be defined because we have some injuries to deal with. Ghaemi is now much better but he got thinner and has not been able to attend training sessions for four weeks. Ghafour has not participated in ball training for five weeks.”