Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 9, 2016 - Poland and Iran will play against each other in a Pool B fixture on the second competition day of the men’s volleyball tournament at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. In this game Poland will be looking for their second victory in Brazil, while the Iranians hope to recover from losing their first match on Sunday.
The Poles did not come across any serious issues as they faced Egypt at the start of the tournament and secured a straight-set 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-17) win with a 12-point contribution each from Bartosz Kurek and Michael Kubiak. “I hope that everybody in my team is motivated and confident,” said Poland’s captain Kubiak. “We are going to keep trying to win, since what is the most important for us is the result.”
Iran did not start well in Rio. The Asian side could not win a single set against Argentina and suffered a 0-3 (23-25, 24-26, 18-25) defeat, despite a good all-round performance by Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi, who top-scored for the team with 10 points. This is Iran’s Olympic debut, but coach Raul Lozano’s squad hopes for more than merely participating on the de Coubertin principle.
The Iranians actually secured their ticket to Rio 2016 with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 34-32) win against already qualified Poland in their penultimate game at the FIVB World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Tokyo, Japan on June 4 of this year. The two sides also met at FIVB Volleyball World Cup 2015. On September 12 in Hamamatsu, Japan, the European team claimed a 3-2 (18-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-20, 15-11) victory.