Iran water polo team defeated by Georgia in friendly match

Iranian men’s national water polo team has suffered its second defeat to the Georgian side in a friendly match staged in the Serbian city of Novi Sad.

On Saturday, day six of Iran’s warm-up games in Serbia, the Iranian side suffered a narrow loss, and went down to the Georgians 12-11 in a neck-and-neck competition.

Iran had lost to the European team 8-4 in its first friendly match the previous day.

Iranian water polo players have been camping in Serbia since October 9, and are slated to play friendly matches against Georgia’s national water polo team and Serbian club Vojvodina during their 10-day-long stay in Novi Sad.

Iranian men’s national water polo team is under the tutelage of 37-year-old Serbian coach Aleksandar Ćirić. He has played for two Olympic bronze medal squads, one for the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and the other for Serbia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Ćirić helped Serbia and Montenegro squad clinch the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

“Iran has so many talented players. We want to improve step by step,” Ćirić said at a news conference in Tehran after signing a contract with Iran Amateur Swimming Federation (IASF) on August 24.

“I can promise I’ll do everything I can, using all my experience to help Iran to reach the same level as Kazakhstan, Japan and China,” the Serbian coach said.

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