Big transfer market deal clinched: Marouf to be playmaker

It’s official: the new playmaker of Emma Villas Siena is Saeid Marouf. Captain of the Iranian national team, Mir Saeid Marouf Lakrani was born in Urmia in Iran in 1985 into a family already well disposed to this sport: many of his family members are fairly successful volleyball players.

An almost natural talent that has earned the thirty-two year old setter many individual awards, mainly in world competitions.

In 2008, in 2012 and 2016 he was awarded the title of best setter during the Olympic qualifications; he won the same title in the 2013 Asian championship  and in the 2014 World League.

He participated in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and was voted  Sportsman of the Year of the Iranian calendar (the official calendar of Iran and Afghanistan).

The name of Saeid Marouf (189 cm) has been linked to the national team since 2001, beginning with the junior team with which he won the bronze medal in the Under 19 World Cup (2003) and the silver medal in the Asian Cup; four years later, in 2005, he made his debut in the first team. Since 2012, Julio Velasco, at the helm of the Iranian team, has preferred him to veteran Alireza Nadi, electing him captain. Step by step the young playmaker pulled the team to the FIVB World League for the first time. After two initial defeats, the men of Velasco achieved success by defeating Italy and Marouf quickly gained the title of best setter of the competition, excelling over names like  Bruno Rezende and Dragan Travica.

The popularity of Marouf in Iran is sky-high: never before has any setter achieved his success. The captain soon became a sports celebrity in his home country and began to devote himself to  projects of solidarity in the fight against hunger and poverty with the World Food Program.

The golden period with the national team has continued after Velasco, under the guidance of the Serb Kovac in 2013.

Nicknamed “Golden Claw” for his quick touch, precise performance and attention to the game, the Iranian playmaker, who until then had only played in clubs in his own country, always at the top of the standings, leapt to the attention of the Russian club, Zenit Kazan, who had him sign a six-zero contract (December 2014). On January 25, 2015 Marouf made his debut in the Russian Super League with a 3-0 win against Dynamo Krasnodar. After winning the Russian Cup, the Champions League and the national championship in the same year, he returned to his original club of Urmia, from which he had taken his first steps, before signing in the last two years with Paykan Tehran.

Currently, Saeid Marouf is occupied in the FIBVB Volleyball Men’s Nations League, the new

16-team competition that has replaced the previous World League in international calendars.

“I am very pleased about the arrival of a great champion like Marouf.” – says President Giammarco Bisogno – “It is a gift that we make as a club, for our first year in Superlega, for the town and for all our fans. I am of the opinion that a diagonal like that between Marouf and Hernandez is one of the most interesting and intriguing of our championship. Our goal is to reach  salvation in tranquillity and to achieve some satisfactory results. I would like to thank the Iranian Federation for their cooperation and help in facilitating this operation”.

VICTORIES

2017/2018 Iran Super League (Paykan Tehran)
2014/2015 Russian Super League (Zenit Kazan)
2014/2015 Champions League (Zenit Kazan)
2014/2015 Russian Cup (Zenit Kazan)
2013/2014 Asian Club Championship (Matin Varamin)
2013/2014 Iran Super League (Matin Varamin)
2011/2012 Iran Super League (Kalleh Mazandaran)
2004/2005 Iran Super League (Sanam)

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

2016 1st World Olympic Qualification Tournament / Best Setter
2014 World League / Best Setter
2013 Asian Championship / MVP
2013 Asian Championship / Best Setter
2012 1st World Olympic Qualification Tournament / Best Setter
2010 Asian Cup / Best Setter
2009 Asian Championship / Most Popular Player

CURRICULUM

2016/2018 Paykan Tehran
2015/2016 Shahrdari Urmia
2014/2015 Zenit Kazan
2013/2014 Matin Varmint
2012/2013 Shahrdari Urmia
2011/2012 Kalleh Mazandaran
2010/2011 Damash Milan
2007/2010 Saipa Alborz
2006/2007 Javaheri Gonbad
2004/2006 Sanam
2003/2004 Shahrdari Urmia