Milan, Italy, September 24, 2010 – Iran coach Hossein Madani has declared that his team will be aiming to win their first FIVB Men's World Championship match in 30 years when Pool A of the 2010 edition begins in Milan on Saturday.

Iran is grouped in Pool A with hosts Italy, Japan and Egypt and face Egypt in their opening match on Saturday in a repeat of a 2009 Grand Champions Cup clash which they won in five sets.

Iran has competed in the 2006,1998 and 1970 editions of the FIVB Men's World Championship with their only victories coming in the consolation finals for the 21-24th places at the 1970 edition.

“Iran has never won a match during the World Championship since 1970 therefore we hope to improve our results and get to the second round," Madani said speaking during the first press conference for Pool A at the FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship 2010.

Full press conference quotes:

Egypt coach Antonio Giacobbe: I met these players for the first time some years ago before I became their head coach. It is a young team and I cannot give everything but positive impressions since I consider my players as important as my sons. We are competing in a difficult pool but we trained properly in order to get ready for it. We are excited for this World Championship, the same excitement people experience in every important moment of their lives, because it represents a point of arrival for us.

Iran coach Hossein Madani: This is the fourth time Iran is competing in a World Championship. In the previous editions, our team did not manage to win any match since 1970 therefore we hope to improve our results during this international event and we hope to get to the second round. My players have been practising really hard and we are looking forward to the beginning of the competitions.

Describing the situation of Volleyball in Iran: We started training at the end of May and we took part in different tournaments, such as the AVC cup. In Iran there are professional leagues therefore our players are well paid and there are around 10-12 European players that will play in our country.

Italy coach Andrea Anastasi: I just have positive feelings about the Championship which is about to start. We started our preparation on April 19th therefore we have experienced five months of hard preparation. I think we are ready for a World Championship and I hope Italy would be one of the main characters of this international event.

Japan coach Ueta Tatsuya: I am very glad to be here, in the beautiful city of Milan. Unfortunately the Japanese team is not very tall compared to the other teams but I hope we will manage to get access to the second round.