TEHRAN – Despite being defeated by Poland in the 2022 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) quarterfinals, Iran national volleyball team head coach Behrouz Ataei expressed his satisfaction with his team.

Brave Iran lost to Poland 3-2 (25-21, 24-26, 25-18, 16-25, 15-7) in Bologna, Italy Thursday night.

“First, I would like to thank my players because they played 13 difficult matches during a 50-day period. They worked hard and dedicated themselves to the team,” Ataei said.

“We will have to prepare for the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in late August and I think we will get a better result in the competition. In my opinion, one of the reasons we did well in the 2022 VNL was the people who inspired us during the competition.

“We took part in the competition with a new generation and I am very happy because we showed the world that how strong we are. Up to now, many people just knew some of the Iranian stars but they know our new players and it shows that we produce promising stars in our volleyball,” he added.

“We will fight until the end in the world championship and do our best to satisfy our people. We owe a large part of our success to the people,” Ataei concluded.