The French team faces Italy on Friday (5 p.m.) in the quarter-final of the Nations League one month before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
After a long and arduous journey from Manila to the Philippines, the Blues arrived this Tuesday in Lodz in Poland for the final phase of the Nations League. They discovered the Atlas Arena and its 13,000 seats where they will face the formidable Italian team this Friday at 5 p.m. in the quarter-final of the competition: “From now on, all matches are tests against teams that we will face at the Olympic Games,” estimates the central of Montpellier and France, Nicolas Le Goff.
“Good services”
Since they started the VNL, on May 21 in Turkey against Bulgaria (3-0), the Héraultais and his partners have seen the country: they passed through Canada where they beat the Italians on the way ( 3-2) then by the Philippines to finally finish in sixth place in the regular phase and achieve the objective of qualifying among the eight best teams. With, every time the day dawns, the home Olympics in our sights: “We had a good first part of VNL focused on physical work and volleyball in preparation for the Games, explains the colossus of MHSC VB (32 years old, 2.07m). We put in some good performances, we saw some very good things in terms of the game. We’re still getting used to it, we’ve sometimes played matches after a big weight training session the day before, knowing that we could run out of juice.”
“The Games? We can’t wait to be there”
In short, the Blues were reassured by the image of an epic duel against the dangerous Japanese in Manila last weekend, ultimately lost 3-2: “In this match, we remember the first two sets we won, the phases where we managed to play very well against a team that poses problems for everyone. It’s been a long time since we had a match like that , with this intensity.”
At best, France will play a final on Sunday to close its first part of a historic summer which will lead this fabulous team to the defense of its Olympic title in front of the French public: “We are in working order, concludes Le Goff. When we think of the Olympic Games, the overriding feelings are excitement and desire. We can not wait to be there.”
