Betim, Brazil, October 30, 2015 - The memory of 2014, when they fell off the podium at home soil, is now completely gone for Sada Cruzeiro, as the host team secured a place in the final match with a moving attitude and a scorching spirit, rushing past Paykan Tehran. Coach Marcelo Méndez saw those qualities on his players during the match.
Nikolay Nikolov, Paykan Tehran player: “I want to congratulate Sada Cruzeiro for their victory and wish them good luck. We couldn’t show our skills as we did in the previous games. Our main weakness today was that we couldn’t serve well, allowing Sada Cruzeiro to have a really good reception and many offensive options. It was really difficult for us to stop them.”
William Arjona, Sada Cruzeiro captain: “Our team was more solid today - I think that’s the right word. We all played very focused, knowing in advance how hard this game could be, due to the quality of Paykan players. We never let them break us or bring us down. That’s what I mean by solid. This has been one of our best games of the season; we improved in the right moment and played an excellent match.”
Peyman Akbari, Paykan Tehran coach: “They played very good today and showed their strength. We couldn’t play as we used to and I think our mind was the reason. If you go for the win, you must give our full potential for that. Like they did. Besides that, our match against the Argentina team finished very late tonight, so we could have used a little more rest. We were not completely ready for the match, but in the end they were better than us.”
Marcelo Méndez, Sada Cruzeiro coach: “I always say that when a team defends well, they are showing their desire to win. Today, we defended a lot. We also worked very well on service and blocking-defence. We could neutralise a very good team, we were consistent enough to do it. It was a game to highlight and we hope to do the same tomorrow.”