Milad Ebadipour and Iran never lost sight of their pride and honor amid a long dry spell, culminating in a seismic breakthrough win against the USA in the 2024 VNL Manila leg.
For two straight weeks of action in the 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL), Milad Ebadipour and Iran faced nothing but setbacks.
The Iranians endured a grueling 0-8 losing streak, seeing their title dreams slip away with each defeat.
Yet, Ebadipour and his brothers-in-arms never lost sight of their pride and honor as they continued to press on and fight for the flag and country.
On Wednesday night, June 19, Iran finally ended the long run of futility in its first game of the Manila leg, pulling off an epic upset over powerhouse USA in a five-set thriller.
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Ebadipour could not help but feel a mixture of relief and elation, as he spoke about the significance of defeating one of the world’s strongest teams.
“It was a great game. We had tough weeks in the past and we lost eight games. This is the most difficult team to play in the third week, to start [Week 3] against USA, one of the biggest teams in the world,” said the 30-year-old stalwart, who poured 20 points in the winning cause.
“I think we have to start to win games and today was our first game in the third week. I’m so happy to win against [one of the biggest teams in the world] like the USA.”
Ebadipour also beamed with pride for his teammates, emphasizing that Iran has one of the youngest rosters in the tournament.
“All of them are almost under 25 years old. This is great for our national team. This is really good…They showed the best quality and I’m happy,” he shared.
“I would say I’m proud of them. We have a really young generation as I’ve said many times. They have a really good and nice future. I’m happy for this because they showed in the future that they can show the best performance and they can improve a lot.”
Ebadipour and the rest of the Iranians aim to carry over the winning momentum when they collide with the Netherlands on Thursday, June 20.