These Blues are stunning.
On the edge of the precipice after their defeat against Argentina, the Habs have regained their colors by beating Russia (3-1), yet leader of Group B. Result, they reposition themselves in third place in their group and have their destiny in their hands to hope to finish in the top four, synonymous with qualification in the quarter-finals, before their last match against Brazil on Sunday.
“We removed the handbrake,” sums up coach Laurent Tillie.
Among the players, a broad smile that we had not seen since the start of the competition.
Earvin Ngapeth is the first relieved ...
What is your feeling after this second victory in four games?
Earvin Ngapeth.
We are happy, we take three points and it is above all that it allows us to continue to dream.
We played better, we were less on the reserve, we let go and we know that's how we play best.
I am super happy.
We had nothing more to lose.
It was not the last chance but it was especially important to us to play a match that resembles us in terms of state of mind.
🏐 💪 Despite a slump in the second round, the Blues won in 4 sets against the Russians.
Earvin Ngapeth and his partners will return to Brazil on Monday (4:05) # Tokyo2020 #Olympic
Games ▶ Follow the Olympics live: https://t.co/m1pzqe15FH pic.twitter.com/gxDzvGBa7J
- France tv sport (@francetvsport) July 30, 2021
Did you have any doubts after the loss against Argentina?
Finally, there is no time to think about it.
You had to win, that's all.
Afterwards, of course, you look at all the scenarios, you talk a lot.
We said
to ourselves
:
unlike Rio (Editor's note: eliminated in the last group game) we have our destiny in hand, it's up to us to go and find it.
Obviously, we looked at the scenarios.
We knew that with three points we were fine.
We will also have to play a good game against Brazil to be sure.
But we made a big leap towards qualifying even.
"We have to screw it up"
On a personal level, have you wondered about your level?
When you don't play well, you doubt.
Did we do the trick well, are we at the level… When you play matches like that, it relieves you.
You see the smile, the joy, the state of mind.
Us, that's how we should play.
It's a victory that can definitely launch our competition.
We see that we have not lost our volleyball, it's just in the head.
We have to approach all the matches like that, in nothing to lose mode.
We had the impression that there was more life ...
The room is really big, we don't train there.
The absence of an audience is complicated.
We also talked about it among us.
Tonight, there was more noise, whether it was the staff on the bench, the colleagues at the edge of the field.
Casually that helps.
We were a little soft but it also looked like what we were doing on the pitch.
There it is us, the mess, the noise, the madness, it looks more like us.
How do you explain it?
It is a question of energy.
When we start to lower, it's up to the bench to “bring it back”.
We said
to ourselves
:
we have to screw it up because it's soft, it's not the state of mind we have to have to perform
.
There it is easier.
As in the first game lost against the USA, you had to wait before starting.
How did you manage it?
The first game taught us how to handle this scenario. We wait, we wait, we stay together. We wait for the go to start the warm-up. Against the United States, it's not just that but it's one of the things that got us into it. It was mismanaged.
