Italy Volleyball Team Favorite to Win Olympics: Iran's Coach

Iran lost to defending Olympic champion Russia in straight sets (25-23, 25-16, 25-20) in Pool B of the men’s volleyball tournament at Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

“It is very important for Iran to move into the second round since it is its first time in the Olympics. In the first set we played better than in the next two when Russia made fewer mistakes than us and played better,” Lozano told fivb.com.

“It is very clear that Italy is the favorite. If they play under their level and we play above ours, we can surprise them."

"We will go out to give a good try and who knows what can happen. Maybe Italy faces some problems with the pressure and we take advantage of that,” the Argentine said.

Iran will play Italy on Wednesday.