Two months before the Olympics, the volleyball Blues are reassured against the United States B team in the Nations League

It was a match without much suspense or stakes, in front of almost empty stands. At the final whistle, the Blues still let out a sigh of relief. The day after a dry defeat against Slovenia, the French men’s volleyball team won, Friday May 24, in Antalya, Turkey, against the United States in three sets (25-22 25-21 25 -21) for their third Nations League meeting.

Finally… against the United States B team. Because Team USA, second in the world rankings, is in fact already assured of participating in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (July 26-August 11) and its management preferred to leave its usual managers at home.

It must be said that the Nations League is a grueling tournament: from May 14 to June 30, the sixteen best selections on the planet compete on three continents – for this 2024 edition, the events are organized in Canada, in the Philippines and Turkey. This year, it mainly serves as a dress rehearsal before the Paris Olympics and, with this in mind, a second rout in a row would have been a mess for the Tricolores, the reigning Olympic champions.

“We didn’t play well against Slovenia. We must rediscover our playing identity. This is why today’s victory is important”declared receiver-attacker Yacine Louati at the microphone of The Channel L’Equipe after the game. Among the satisfactions of the day, Kevin Tillie, Daryl Bultor and Joris Seddik, the young central from Montpellier (18 years old), were solid. Above all, Théo Faure confirmed that he represents a credible alternative to the point guard position. Places are expensive because only twelve players will be selected for the Games – compared to 14 for other major international competitions.

“They showed interesting things, in particular Théo Faure, but the teams not being complete, there are few lessons to be learned from the VNL [acronyme anglais de la Ligue des nations], puts Jean-François Exiga, former libero of the Blues (130 caps) into perspective. Yesterday’s match nevertheless showed that the French team must improve on the counterattack, its weak point, to hope to win a medal in Paris. »

Path paved with pitfalls

After three matches, the Tricolores have two successes. If on May 21, they had beaten Bulgaria in four sets (25-21, 26-24, 25-14), on Thursday, they had been dominated by Slovenia, the sixth nation in the world, the one which had deprived them of bronze during Euro 2023 (four sets: 25-18, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21). The closed face of Andréa Giani, the Italian coach of the Blues, was revealing: his men are behind on the roadmap, which should lead them to the Olympic tournament.

The road looks like a long, winding path full of pitfalls. After winning gold to everyone’s surprise in Tokyo in 2021, France, which has fallen to eighth place in the world, will have to raise its level to hope to retain its title, a feat that only two countries have achieved in the history of volleyball. ball, Russia and the United States.

However, the game is far from over. The Olympics promise a great fight between the twelve best teams in the world. “In Paris, they will all come to win. I’m expecting one of the toughest tournaments in the history of our sport.”slipped World Nikola Grbic, the Serbian coach of the Poland team, on the eve of the Nations League.

The Blues now have a meeting with Turkey on May 25, before flying to Ottawa, Canada, where they will meet Italy on June 6. Reigning world champions, the Transalpines beat the French by three sets to zero during their last confrontation in Rome, in the semi-finals of Euro 2023, before being defeated in the final by Poland by the same score.