French volleyball players have been full of confidence one month before the start of the Olympic tournament (July 27 – August 10). Saturday June 24, the Blues beat Poland at home in Lodz in the semi-finals of the League of Nations. Leaders in the world rankings and reigning European champions, the Poles have until now been the big favorites in the run-up to the Paris Games.
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Crowned in Tokyo in 2021, the French will try to retain their title in Paris, a feat that only two countries have accomplished in the history of this sport, the United States and Russia. In the meantime, the French team will try, on Sunday, to win a fourth Nations League, three years after its last success. This grueling competition, which takes place on three continents, brings together the 16 best teams in the world every summer. The Blues will start as favorites tomorrow against Slovenia or Japan, who face each other on Saturday evening at 8 p.m.
The score of this semi-final testifies to the intensity of the match, which took place in a packed house (12,000 spectators): 25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 25-20, 16- 18. Narrowly beaten, the Poles had nevertheless benefited from one more day of recovery than the French, winners the day before over the Italians, reigning world champions, also in five sets (19-25, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11). In the tie-break, the Poles had two serves to conclude, but the French did not tremble, and it was the young sharp Théo Faure, of impressive mental strength, who delivered the Blues with a final smash .
Yacine Louati sparkling
Against the Poles, holders of this League of Nations, the French delivered a very complete match. In the absence of their central Barthélémy Chinenyeze, who is recovering from knee pain, the receiver-attacker Yacine Louati, sparkling throughout the game, was the best tricolor scorer (21 points).
The libero Jenia Grebennikov and the passer Antoine Brizard returned to their best level, as did Nicolas Le Goff, finally effective on the counter (6), the usual weak point of the Blues. While Trévor Clévenot was impressive in the service, Earvin Ngapeth was spared. Barely returning from a calf injury, the team’s star nevertheless made his contribution by delivering four serves, including an ace.
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Andrea Giani, the Italian coach of the France team, who had set himself the objective of reaching the last four of this League of Nations, did not hide his satisfaction at the end of the match, he who, for many months , hoped to find “gaming identity” which allowed the Blues to shine in Tokyo. After suffering ten defeats in 2023, French volleyball players seem to be regaining their true level of play and mental strength at the best time.
Andrea Giani had particularly insisted on “the importance of physical and mental condition”, because he predicts that many matches in Paris will go as far as the tie-break of the fifth set. He was fully served. At the end of a demanding competition for the organizations, with long trips to three continents (Antalya, Ottawa, Manila, Lodz) in five weeks, the Tricolores now seem accustomed to the exercise. They have had seven tie-breaks in their last ten meetings, and have won five of them.
