Cairo, Egypt, August 24, 2017- Japan came twice from behind to clinch a victory over Iran in the play off 5 to 8 positions at Men's U23 World Championship. Here are the quotes of the coaches and captains after the thrilling encounter.
Japan Coach Fumitoshi Tokuanaga: "We are happy because we took revenge and were able to beat Iran today after they beat us in the Asia qualifications. It is an honor for us to beat the Asian title holders. The players applied my plan and that is why we were able to win. I think Egypt will win and we will meet it and try to make up for our group A loss in front to Egypt."
Japan Captain Masaki Oyu: "We played well and we deserved to win. I hope we will end up being victorious in the team’s match tomorrow to clinch the 5th position which is up to our targets."
Iran Coach Juan Manual Cichello: "I congratulate Japan as their serve was the cause of their winning. The players felt they are stronger than they really are. They felt after the first two sets that they will win so they felt over self-confident so that is why we lost because they played better. We will try to look better in tomorrow’s match than today."
Iran Captain Rahman Taghi Zadeh: "I have nothing to say. We did not play well so we lost."