Frigoni reflects on Alas Pilipinas’ dream run, eyes future growth

Alas Pilipinas Men and its head coach Angiolino Frigoni are having a hard time accepting their exit from the 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship after falling to world No. 16 Iran, 21-25, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 22-20, on Thursday night, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Italian coach, who has been at the helm for over 15 months, was pleased with how far the team has come, but couldn’t hide his disappointment at how their historic campaign ended.

From initially being announced as the winner of the match after the grueling fifth set with a 20-18 scoreline, the victory was overturned when the Iranians’ late challenge proved to be successful for their side, leaving the Filipinos confused and barely recovered from it.

“I am very proud. I am very proud because we improved a lot. We showed that we can play good volleyball. I thanked all the fans that came here because they support us very much. I [feel] pity in the way that we lost. Because we were in a dream. And they woke up just one point before the dream was finished. But that’s life. That’s life of the sport,” said Frigoni.

“But I think that we played with skills, with power, with heart, with mind. I am happy for that. Just how they finished [the tournament]. I [would have] preferred to finish this match losing it 15-10 or 15-8 or 15-7 [in the fifth set]. But this way, it was very, very painful. By the way, I am very proud of them. Very proud,” he continued.

The Philippines was the second-lowest ranked team in the 32-field tournament when it debuted at No. 88, but Alas’ heart was bigger than ever heading into the battlefield.

While expectations were tempered, the Filipinos exceeded those and nearly extended their participation in the world meet.

“You saw how much they wanted it. Everybody saw how they fought. We never, ever gave up — never. Even in the tiebreak, when we were down, we kept playing. We won… but the referee said we didn’t. We didn’t win,” Frigoni added.

Players deserve the credit

For the longest time, the women’s counterpart has been getting all the support whether it be international or in the local scene.

However, the Italian coach said credit shouldn’t solely go to him as the players themselves have done their parts in earnest.

“We are friends [me and the coach from Iran]. All the coaches they think the improvement of the player is depending on the coach. I am one of them [who believes that in some way]. But we just have to give them [players] a way to [succeed]. After this, it depends on them. There is no one player that don’t get better if they won’t want to be better," Frigoni said.

Looking ahead, the 71-year-old mentor isn’t rushing into plans for the Southeast Asian Games in December in Thailand, saying the team needs time to reflect on what they’ve accomplished, and the heartbreak that came with it.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News