The Montenegrin coach-led Iran for three years and parted ways with the team after the cancellation of the 2020 VNL and Olympic Games.

“I have good memories from Iran however I had some difficult times in the country but I want to forget them,” Kolakovic said.

“Iran is a beautiful country and has a kind of people. I have to say I enjoyed working with brave and clever players in Iran. They keep the fighting spirit alive in the competitions,” he added.

“I am satisfied with my performance in Iran because we won the country’s first medal in history. Iran claimed a bronze medal at the 2017 edition of the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Champions Cup. We proved several times we are the best team in Asia. I should also say we prepare the young players for the future of Iran,” he said.

Kolakovic has been unveiled as a new trainer of the Polish side Aluron Virtu Zawiercie.

He said that the negotiations didn’t take long as the president of the club has the same idea for building the team like him.

The club was determined to hire Kolakovic. The coach, who led Serbia to the bronze medal of the World Championship 2010 in Italy and won the European Championship a year later, admitted that it’s a real challenge for him to work in the Polish league.

“Aluron Virtu is a well-organized club with an ambitious president and the best fans in Poland. All these facts immediately directed me to my decision, as well as conversations with the club’s president. That’s why I take up the challenge”, commented Kolakovic in an interview with Polish media.

“Negotiations did not last long. We have reached an agreement and set the conditions quickly”, added the Montenegrin.

The Polish volleyball league was prematurely ended due to the coronavirus outbreak. Aluron took 10th place.

“The competition is one of the strongest leagues in the world, it’s not a coincidence that Poland is the current world champion. The halls are always full of supporters, and this creates the best atmosphere for playing volleyball”, concluded Kolakovic.

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According To Iran News, Iran volleyball federation is not going to continue its cooperation with Igor Kolakovic.

The Montenegrin coach was supposed to head Iran at the 2020 Olympic Games but the games have been postponed to 2021.

Local media report that the two sides will cease to associate with each other.

Iran volleyball federation has yet to confirm this.

The 2020 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) has also been postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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According To Iran News, Iran national volleyball team’s head coach Igor Kolakovic feels really good being in the Middle East country and says that Iran is a safe country.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has recently banned the Iranian teams from hosting international matches based on safety fears over the current tensions in the region, however Kolakovic says Iran is a safe country.

“The Iranian people are very hospitable and the country is safe. I receive so many messages from my friends per day and they ask after the Iranian people. They, indeed, support the Iranian people. I have good memories from Iran and I am sad because I have to leave the country after the Olympics,” he told the Tasnim News Agency.

Under stewardship of Kolakovic, Iran booked a place at the 2020 Olympic Games after becoming champion at the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament in Jiangmen, China.

“To win an Olympic berth is not an easy task because all teams took part in the competitions with the best preparation. The best Asian teams were in the China but they had nothing to lose against Iran. They played against us without any fear. On the other hand, we had so many problems ahead of the event because our key players like Farhad Ghaemi and Amir Ghaffour missed the competition due to injury and several players got cold when arrived in Jiangmen,” Kolakovic said.

Iran fought back from a set down to beat South Korea 3-2 in the competition’s semis.

“We had problem against Korea because they played very better than expected. And we could not play as usual. The final match against China was very easier than we expected. Our players were ready, both physically and mentally. Iran has so many rising stars and I am sure that they will be added to Team Melli in the near future,” Kolakovic stated.

“To be present in Olympics is very good for Iran’s volleyball. It’s not a long time that Iran has introduced itself as a world power. Iran has qualified for the Olympics for the second successive time and it proves that Iran also is a powerhouse team in volleyball. The team has a bright future. A team like Serbia, who is champion of the Europe, has failed to win a place in the Olympics because the qualification in the Europe is very difficult,” the Montenegrin trainer went on to say.

“I am happy for what I have done for Iran volleyball. I called up Morteza Sharifi, Amir Hossein Tukhteh and Saber Kazemi and Mohammad Reza Hazratpour to Team Melli for the 2018 World Cup and now they can replace the big stars like Saeid Marouf and MohammadMousavi. I am proud of my team,” Kolakovic concluded.

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According To Iran News, Iran national volleyball team head coach Igor Kolakovic says that Team Melli will have a difficult match against South Korea.

Iran eased past China in straight sets (25-22, 25-20, 25-21) on at the AVC Men’s Tokyo Volleyball Qualification tournament and will play South Korea in the semifinals on Saturday.

“I think it’s better for both teams to save more energy for the semifinals. I believe my team did well except some mistakes at the beginning, but we gradually controlled the game with reception, first attack as well as in defense,” Kolakovic said.

“We have a difficult match against South Korea. They played well against Australia and Qatar but we are ready for this match. South Korea plays very fast and they are good at defense,” he added.

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Iran kept the momentum in almost all 14 remaining games and earned 12 victories while also suffering three losses. With the 12-3 win-loss record and 36 points, Iran finished this as runner-up behind Brazil with 14-1.

Iran relies on both experienced and young players

Many volleyball experts in the country believed that Igor Kolakovic should give the opportunity to youth players in the event; both for training the next generation and also for preserving the stamina of the experienced ones for other important events of this year, such as the 2020 Olympics qualifiers. However, Kolakovic didn’t share the same view. He held a different opinion. The Montenegrin coach fielded its top guns in almost all games, except for the last two ones against Bulgaria and USA; showing that attaining medal in this event is of priority for him. And till now he has been successful as he managed to lead the team to the final round for the second time in Iran’s history; the first one occurred in 2014.

Although there is still much difference between Iran’s main and second squad, the youth players, such as Mohammadreza Hazratpour, Ali Asghar Mojarad, Porya Yali, and Javad Karimi promise yet another golden generation for Iranian volleyball. They only need more time and more games to achieve the required harmony.

Critics say that now that the team has taken the risk of injuries and advanced to the final stage, it is now the best time to earn a medal in the event since the main squad is at its best readiness and if they miss the chance now, it will take many years to gain another such opportunity.

Iran is mainly powered by its top guns who also rank among best players of this year’s VNL. The team’s captain, Saeid Marouf, is now the best setter of the event with an average per set of 8.42. He had also attained the 2014 World League’s best setter prize.

Amir Ghafour is Iran’s and the event’s best attacker so far with a total of 183 spikes and an average success rate of 57.73 percent. He also ranks second in the best scores’ table with 208 points, behind Japan’s Yuji Nishida with 220. It seems pretty likely that Ghafour would catch Nishida since Japan is not present in the Final Six.

Naming Iran’s top players, one cannot ignore Seyed Mohammad Mousavi who is among the best blockers of the competition with 29 stuff blocks and 38 rebounds.

Final Six

Top five teams of the table, i.e. Brazil, Iran, Russia, France, Poland plus the host, USA, will hold the Final Six round in Chicago on July 10 to 14.

Iran has been drawn along Brazil and Poland in Pool B of the final round. Iran’s matches against these two powerhouses in the preliminary round both finished in five sets, one win and one loss.

Iran vs Poland

According to FIVB, Iran and Poland have held 19 matches at major world level tournaments; the results were seven wins for Iran and 12 for the European side.

This year’s match between the two teams at 2019 VNL preliminary round was held in Iran’s Urmia on June 15 and ended with a hard-fought 3-2 victory for the host.

The game in Chicago on July 11, 22:00 GMT, will surely be an exciting encounter; why, you ask? For the history of the two teams’ head-to-head matches and all the controversies that follow. Poland captain, Michal Kubiak has a long history of engaging in verbal and even physical conflict with Iranian players.

Kubiak was suspended in early June for six games following offensive remarks where he called Iranians “fatal, malicious and damned people”. Days later and after Iran’s official complaint, FIVB Disciplinary Panel Sub-Committee noted in a statement that Kubiak has ‘committed violations’ of the regulations and urged the Polish player to issue a written apology.

The official apology was issued but not by Kubiak himself, rather by the Polish volleyball federation and it was read before the start of Iran-Poland game in Urmia.

Kubiak has just played for Poland in the Week 1 of 2019 VNL and it very likely that he will be fielded in the final round.

Iran vs Brazil

According to FIVB, Brazil and Iran have met 15 times at major world-level competitions. Brazil won 12 of these games, including each of the last six. Iran won three, with the most recent victory dating back to their 2014 World League pool stage encounter. Their last encounter goes back to June 7 in the Week Two of the event which finished with a 3-2 victory for the South American team.

The two teams will lock horns on July 12 at 22:00 GMT.

France, USA and Russia hold matches of the Pool A. Two best teams of each pool will advance to the semifinal.

One more thing about Iran is that the team will by no means be alone in Chicago as more than one million Iranians are living in the US and Canada and surely, some will make a trip to Credit Union 1 Arena to cheer for their team.

Who can earn the $1 million prize of the first rank? No one can guess for sure as all six teams have proved their top-class volleyball and the fact that volleyball cannot be predicted at this world top level. I and many other Iranians are just impatiently waiting to see a high-quality performance by our team.

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Iran national volleyball team has a busy year ahead. Team Melli will have to participate at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League in late May as well as the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, which has been scheduled for September.

“First of all, I have to say we’ve had a good year and I hope to keep that going. It’s an important year ahead for us, since Iran will take part at the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Nations League in Argentina which kicks off on May 28 and runs to July 8.We will also take part at the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship in September,” Kolakovic said.

“We need to build two teams to ease pressure on our players. The teams’ players have not been chosen yet and we will announce their names after holding the training camps. The young players are not involved in the competitions and can participate at the camps along with the senior players,” the 52-year-old Montenegrin coach added.

“The 2018 Asian Games players is a good opportunity for us to field our young players. We will our main players for the Volleyball Men’s World Championship which will be co-hosted by Italy and Bulgaria. It will be also a good opportunity for our young players to show their potentials for success,” Kolakovic added.

Asked him if Iran has a chance to win a medal in this year, Kolakovic said, “Our players have shown true dedication and commitment but you can never guarantee that you will win medal. Brazil, as the best national volleyball team, cannot guarantee winning a medal.”

Leaving the door open for Adel Gholami and Shahram Mahmoudi, he said, “Adel is allowed to join Iran national team, but it depends on his physical condition. I’ve talked to Mahmoudi but it seems he’s reluctant to return to Team Melli.”

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The Montenegrin coach to meet Iran Volleyball Federation newly-elected president Ahmad Ziaei and will discuss about the team’s programs.

2018 will be a busy year for Iran volleyball since Team Melli should participate at the Asian Games as well as the Volleyball Nations League in Argentina in May.

Iran will have to take part at the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship, which will be co-hosted by Italy and Bulgaria from Sept. 9 to 30.

The Iranian teams will also take part at the Asian Volleyball Confederation, Asian Women’s Volleyball Challenge Cup and Asian Men’s U-20 Volleyball Championship

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