TEHRAN – Iran volleyball coach Slobodan Kovac admitted that his team faces an uphill task in the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup.

The competition will be played from September 8 to 23 in Japan.

The tournament is a qualification process for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The top two teams will qualify for the Olympics and join Brazil as it has already secured a berth as the host country.

“Iran will have to play 11 matches during a short time in the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup. We have to be well-prepared for the competition,” Kovac said.

“Iranian players should be fully ready both mentally and physically. We could book a spot at Rio,” he added.

“Iran will also participate at the Hubert Wagner Memorial which takes place in Poland from August 22 to 24,” the Serbian coach added.

Iran has started its training for the two events from Tuesday.

MH