Hiroshima, Japan, October 15, 2019 - Poland made sure of a second-place finish at the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup on Tuesday, beating Iran 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-16) thanks to Wilfredo Leon, who notched 17 points in another dominating display at Hiroshima Green Arena.
Poland assistant Sebastian Pawlik: ”To be second at this tournament we needed this victory today and we did what we should do. That’s why we are happy. It was a tough tournament for us, because we played the European Championship before the World Cup and immediately after that came here to play games. So we are glad that our players stayed healthy. We used many players here, so for us this is also important that everybody is healthy so we can now go back home and work in our clubs.”
Poland captain Michal Kubiak: “The fans can be really happy, because this was a really good game. This is what happens when two very motivated teams play against each other, we could see that today. We are very happy we are second at the World Cup, this is a really good result. This was the last game of this season so we are even more happy that we won, and see you guys in one year at the Olympics - and before that in the Japanese league.”
Iran coach Igor Kolakovic: “First of all congratulations to the Polish team for the silver medal and for this victory. It was a game in which we could learn a lot, because we played against one of the best - maybe in this moment the best team in the world, even though they took a silver medal here. (That was true for) some periods of the game but some periods we were too impressed with the Polish team, or maybe we are exhausted after this long tournament. Some young players are also so tired and that led to some special things in this game. Tonight they had an opportunity to play against the best team in the world and they couldn’t give all of their energy to play until the end. But, in the end, I can understand this because some of them have some injury problems, some of them are without experience, and some of them were without such good preparation for this tournament. So I think this game is important because Poland could celebrate the silver medal.”
Iran captain Mir Saeid Marouflakrani: “I think we couldn’t show our best performance in this tournament. It was a long summer for us and we couldn’t finish in the best way, but after three months we have to be ready for the Olympic Games (qualifiers) so we have to forget this tournament and give focus to our future.”