Brazil edged past Iran 3-2 (25-17, 23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-13) in Ufa, Russia.
“We knew that this would be a tough match because Iran’s team is very strong. Their game is very fast-paced. We assumed that the game would be drawn out and we’d have a hard time, but we’re glad that it turned out this way and we won,” Dal Zotto said in the post-match news conference.
Meantime, Brazil captain Bruno Rezende said, “We had a really good start especially in the first set. Our opponent had a lot of players we didn’t know, so we had to get accustomed to them first."
"Rebuilding our game plan took some time, so we couldn’t play as aggressively as the match against Russia. But we got into the zone and we played with full power.”