We already have the first surprise on the third day of the World Cup in Manila - Egypt defeated Iran 3:1 in sets and opened wide the door to the elimination rounds. This is especially impressive, as in the world ranking, the "Pharaohs" were 10 positions behind the Iranians before their match with them.
Earlier, Finland failed to be among the teams that caused a surprise, after allowing De Cecco and company to complete a full comeback from 0:2 sets.
Every such result is favorable for Bulgaria, because all the teams ahead of us who lose to lower-ranked opponents reduce their point total and give us a chance to advance in the rankings. Of course, the condition is that we also defeat higher-ranked teams - something that is already a fact after the success against Germany.
Thus, with the lost 13.81 points, Iran dropped to 16th position, while Egypt added the same amount and climbed three places forward - to 20th.
Iran arrived in the Philippines without their key players - Milad Ebadipour, Amin Esmaeilnezhad and Javad Karimi. Their absence is clearly having a severe impact, because in the crucial moments Roberto Piazza's team failed to find the necessary stability.
Score by sets
Iran – Egypt 1:3
(17-25, 25-16, 23-25, 20-25)
Match statistics
| Iran | Statistics | Egypt |
|---|---|---|
| 45 | Attack | 52 |
| 10 | Block | 7 |
| 4 | Serve | 8 |
| 26 | Opponent errors | 24 |
| 85 | Total points | 91 |
Egypt dominated in attack and serve - this compensated for their weaker performance on the block. Iran made too many fluctuations in attack and thus lost control in key rallies.
| Iran | Points | Top scorers | Egypt | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hajipour (17) | 17 | A. Said (18) | 18 | |
| Pourya (9) | 12 | Elhossiny (8) | 17 |
Egypt had two leading scorers - A. Said (18 points) and Elhossiny (17 points), who maintained a consistently high level in attack. On the Iranian side, only Hajipour (17 points) and Alex Nikolov's former teammate in Lube Civitanova - Pourya (12 points) managed to be a serious factor, but this was not enough for an equal final.
With the victory, Egypt practically guarantees itself an easier route to the eliminations. Iran, on the contrary, will have to put in maximum effort in the remaining matches if it wants to avoid an unpleasant surprise in the group stage.
