Special envoy to Tokyo
To discover
The Olympic medal table
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As in Rio five years ago, France started their Olympic tournament with a severe defeat in three dry innings.
In the Carioca city, the punishment had come from Italian hands.
This Saturday, in the Japanese capital, it occurred from those of the Americans, who probably did not expect to experience such a controlled start (18-25, 18-25, 22-25) against a team from France who remained on an interesting 3rd place in the League of Nations in June.
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Before the start of the competition, the Blues as a whole had however insisted on the need to approach this first match with maximum aggressiveness.
Obviously, the big hour of delay of the meeting, linked to an interminable duel between Iran and Poland in the previous match (surprisingly won by the Iranians in five sets), was enough to make the French heads forget their good note of intention.
After five points, all fallen into the American purse, Laurent Tillie already had to put down a time-out to try to restore order to the house.
This had an effect to say the least timid, the United States calmly continuing their race in the lead (3-8, then 9-16).
Ngapeth out of the shot, symbol of the French shipwreck
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The coach then attempted a double change of passer and sharp by throwing Stephen Boyer and Antoine Brizard in place of Jean Patry and Benjamin Toniutti, but nothing helped, the first round irremediably escaped the Blues (18-25). And the next one drew an identical scenario. Unable to find binding in attack, France again let the United States take control of the score (4-6), even though the Americans offered them many points in service. Gifts that Earvin Ngapeth and others could not take advantage of to cast doubt on the star-spangled banner, the fault of big mistakes when small opportunities presented themselves (15-18). Worse, the end of the set turned into an industrial accident (18-25) and the headache started.was proving intense for Tillie to find the solution to awaken her troops.
Reaction expected Monday against Tunisia
Out of the way, Ngapeth lived a waking nightmare (9 points to 8 out of 16 in attack) and despite himself dragged his partners in his fall.
In difficulty in defense, with a sector against the subscribers absent in the face of enemy attacks, the blue ship sank to begin (2-7) a third act which would prove to be the last.
A disastrous start both from an accounting point of view, as in the manner.
Used to fighting until the end, the Blues let go in an almost surprising way, without really fighting.
A reaction on Monday against Tunisia will be imperative in order to always aim to play the quarter-finals and not relive Rio, whose ghost is more than ever present.
