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.

The post Kolakovic Satisfied with His Performance in Iran appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Iranian have been drawn in Pool A along with China, Chinese Taipei, and Kazakhstan.

Pool B consists of Australia, Qatar, India, and Korea.

Eight teams will strut their stuff in the Men’s Tokyo Volleyball Qualification 2020 at Jiangmen Sports Center Gymnasium, China from Jan. 7 to 12, 2020 to vie for the top honor and the lone ticket for the Tokyo 2020.

The volleyball training camp for the competition has kicked off in Tehran’s Azadi Hall.

“We have an important tournament ahead and know that it will be a difficult task because all participant teams will take part at the competition looking to book a berth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” Kolakovic told the reporters.

“The year 2019 has been a busy calendar year for FIVB and we have little time for recovery,” he added.

“We have a lot of faith in our team and are hopeful of winning a berth at the Olympics, that’s why we are here. We have no choice but to win a place in Tokyo,” the Montenegrin coach stated.

Iran will participate in the 2020 Men’s Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament without warm-up games.

“We invited Tunisia, Egypt, and Qatar to Iran but they didn’t accept our invitation. France also said they will host us in January and it doesn’t work,” Kolakovic concluded.

Iran will start the campaign with a match against Chinese Taipei on Jan. 7 and meet Kazakhstan and China in the following days.

The post Kolakovic optimistic about Olympic qualification appeared first on Iran News Daily.