Iran volleyball must learn from defeats: Piazza

TEHRAN – Iran head coach Roberto Piazza said his team is still learning how to handle the unique challenges of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL).

Iran finished Week 1 in Pool 2 with losses to Brazil, Bulgaria, and Belgium, while securing a victory over Argentina.

“This means we are still not used to playing in this tournament,” Piazza said. “This is not a normal competition; it is a special and very different tournament.”

When asked what he told his players after the match, Piazza refused to reveal the details.

“That will stay with the players,” he said. “It certainly won’t come from me. But I’m sure one of the players will talk about it — I’m 100 percent sure. In my opinion, everything should remain in the locker room. I know exactly that this is not the case here. It really isn’t. That’s the main problem, do you understand?”

Piazza also pointed to his team’s mental lapse after falling behind early in the match against Belgium.

“We were chasing them because they managed to finish everything in the first two sets, and mentally we lost our focus and the right attitude,” he explained. “After that, though, we fought our way back. We returned to the match in the third and fourth sets.”

The Italian coach highlighted Iran’s costly mistakes in the decisive fifth set.

“In the fifth set, if I remember correctly, we made six service errors,” Piazza said. “That shows we are still not accustomed to playing in this tournament. This is not a normal competition; it is a special and different tournament.”