PHOTOS: MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net, VOLLEYBALL WORLD, YURI CORTEZ/AFP
MANILA, Philippines — As the host nation, Alas Pilipinas makes its historic participation in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2025 against the top African teams and powerhouse Asian squad Iran in Pool A.
With the top 31 best volleyball countries arriving in Manila from September 12 to 28 at Mall of Asia Arena and Smart Araneta Coliseum, the Philippines also gets its chance to compete and gain valuable lessons from world-class squads in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Philippines
Alas Pilipinas Men during an AVC Nations Cup classification phase match in Manama, Bahrain. –AVC PHOTO
Alas Pilipinas’ biggest ace will be its Italian world champion coach Angiolino Frigoni, who has been honing the skills of the Filipino spikers since last year.
The 21-man pool, led by the face of men’s volleyball Bryan Bagunas and Marck Espejo, came from a fruitful training camp in Romania, Morocco, and Portugal, following two consecutive fourth-place finishes in the SEA V-League and a 10th-place finish in the AVC Nations Cup.
With Bagunas and Espejo missing some tournaments due to injuries, young guns like Leo Ordiales, Buds Buddin, Louie Ramirez, Peng Taguibolos, Jade Disquitado, and libero Josh Ybañez have been stating up to help mainstays Owa Retamar, Steve Rotter, Kim Malabunga, and Jack Kalingking.
The World No.82 Philippines is seeking to change the landscape of volleyball through its hosting and at the same time, make the most of the rare opportunity with a world-class build-up ahead of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games Thailand, where the Filipino Spikers eye to return to the top since the 2019 silver medal run.
Iran
Iran’s Amin Esmaeilnezhad (L) spikes the ball during the FIVB men’s volleyball Nations League match between Iran and USA in Manila on June 19, 2024. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP)
Iran is the team to beat in Pool A, parading a young but tall squad with an average age of 23.8 years and height of 6-foot-5, led by Asia’s Best Opposite spiker Amin Esmaeilnezhad.
Iran, a three-time Asian Games champion, is the second highest Asian ranked team in the tournament at No.13 and it looks to surpass the same spot in the 2022 edition.
Team Melli, coached by Italian coach Roberto Piazzacalling and also led by Asian Volleyball Confederation Best Setter Javad Karimi and spikers Ali Hajipour, Morteza Sharifi, Amirhossein Esfandiar, and Ali Haghparast, already rose to ninth place in the Volleyball Nations League from a previous 15th finish.
Egypt
An overview shows Egypt’s #15 Abdelrahman Seoudy (bottom R) and Egypt’s #08 Abdelrahman Elhossiny Eissa vieing with Italy’s #14 Gianluca Galassi (top R) and Italy’s #06 Simone Giannelli during the men’s preliminary round volleyball match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Photo by Natalia KOLESNIKOVA / AFP)
Egypt, a nine-time African champion and the lone representative of the continent in the Paris Olympics 2024, is determined to translate its experience into a better World Championship finish this year.
The World No.23 Egypt, which placed 19th in the 2022 worlds, is pinning its hopes on Mohamed Asran and Abdelrahman Seoudy under 61-year-old Italian coach Marco Bonitta, who boasts multiple international titles highlighted by a gold medal for Italy in the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship in Germany.
The Pharaohs also field opposite hitter Reda Haikal and outside hitter Ahmed Azabwere.
Tunisia
Tunisia’s Elyes Karamosli hits a return during the match between Turkey and Tunisia on the final day of the Volleyball World Cup 2023 men’s Olympic qualifying tournament at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo on October 8, 2023. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
Another threat from Africa is Tunisia, which placed 16th out of the 24-team field in the World Championship 2022.
Tunisia, currently ranked No.43, will miss its star player Wassim Ben Tara, the team’s leading scorer in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
But the 11-time African champions remained a tall order in Pool A with 6-foot-2 opposite spiker Hamza Nagga and 6-foot-4 outside spiker Elyes Karamosli leading the way for the Camillo Placi-coached squad.
Alas Pilipinas debuts in the World Championship against Tunisia on September 12 at MOA Arena, followed by a historic opening ceremony featuring Kpop group BOYNEXTDOOR and Karencitta, who will sing the tournament’s official theme song Electrify.
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