On the brink of the abyss. The qualification of the French volleyball team for the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament is hanging by a thread. Extremely thin. With only one victory in three matches, the band of Earvin Ngapeth had a difficult start to the competition, not to say catastrophic. From the outset, against the Americans, the Blues thwarted, suffering a severe defeat in three dry sets and a feeling of distressing helplessness. Behind, they reacted well by calmly dismissing Tunisia (3/0), but it is promised in the last place and a success against it was more like an obligatory passage than this famous reference match which swells a trusted team. The proof since behind, for their third outing, the French lost to Argentina in five innings (2/3).
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If the setback against the Americans had caused a headache to the Blues, that against the Argentines must have been synonymous with horrible migraine. Especially in terms of accounting. In Rio five years ago, France was also eliminated before the quarter-finals despite two successes on the clock. In other words, to ensure a place in the next round, Benjamin Toniutti and others would be well advised to win their last two meetings. Or at least one in three or four sets, which means three points taken (against only two in case of victory in five sets). Except that it is now Russia that comes face to face with the Blues this Friday, before a conclusion against the Brazilian title holders on Sunday. A particularly indigestible menu,all the more for a team whose level of play is as fluctuating as the stock market at certain times.
We lack stability in the game, we must try to extend the times when we play very well and reduce the times when we play less well.
Benjamin Toniutti
For Trevor Clévenot, one of the few to have survived against Argentina, the problem for his team is the management of weak times. “
We make mistakes, but it happens to have moments of slack, we cannot constantly play at the top, this is where we have to grow, better manage these moments of difficulty, perhaps less forcing, make fewer mistakes.
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We lack stability in the game, we must try to extend the times when we play very well and reduce the times when we play less well, we must try to be more efficient for longer so as not to take a series, to be more lucid in the important moments, to play more intelligently at certain moments, to cut the rhythm a little
”, corroborated the captain Toniutti.
Victory against the Russians in the League of Nations
Russia will not hesitate to punish every weak moment. With three victories in three matches, the last of which was particularly convincing in three sets against Brazil, the Russians have so far impressed with their physical dimension, their size and their knowledge of the block, which tend to stifle opposing attacks, too. efficient are they ordinarily. But, precisely, that of the France team coughs strongly, like a Ngapeth far from its traditional performance, and the prospect of seeing it confronting the Russian wall is worrying. Even if, at the beginning of June, the Blues had dominated Russia in the League of Nations (3/1). But as Toniutti recalled, “
the Russians were far from full at the time.
“However, whatever the level of the team opposite, France must first focus on their level to hope to reverse a trend which today is clearly unfavorable to them. And then after all, what better than an exploit to serve as an electric shock and give life to a group that appeared defeated after the match against Argentina.