Olympics: despite their defeat against Brazil, the French volleyball players take their quarter

From our special correspondent in Tokyo

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• The full Olympic program

• The Olympic medal table

The forgotten ghost of Rio.

This Sunday, the Blues will not have depended on anyone to validate their ticket for the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament.

Winning, or at least losing by winning two sets, were the conditions required against Brazil not to have to wait feverishly for the result between the United States and Argentina.

The second condition was met, not without difficulty (2/3).

But with great relief.

A brilliant blow, a blow without a spring

Indeed, the first set was hardly encouraging.

From the outset relegated to two or three points behind the Brazilians (5-7, then 8-11), the Blues found themselves chasing potatoes, to use an expression dear to cyclists.

Namely a chase that everyone has a feeling will be as long as it is in vain.

Thus, the reigning Olympic champions, well led by an efficient Wallace-Lucarelli duo (5 points each), never really trembled in the face of French people evolving, as too often since the start of the competition, on alternating current.

A brilliant blow, a blow without a spring.

So that the first set logically went into the hands of Brazil (22-25), also more present in the block sector with Lucas, the masked blocker.

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The start of the second round gave hope for a hexagonal awakening, but the small break obtained to lead 8-6 did not prove to be lasting and then began an intense showdown between the two teams, neither succeeding in breaking away. what two points.

Until Jean Patry was welcome to lead 17-15.

From then on, it was necessary to hold for the Blues, but Brazil did not give up.

And the match then entered another dimension.

For more than fifteen minutes, the French and Brazilians were going to offer an incredible spectacle, with some hallucinating exchanges, defenses from elsewhere and in the end, at the eleventh set point in favor of his team, with a subtle small attack, Ngapeth concluded the case (39-37).

Dantesque.

Poland in quarters

Half the road was then completed for France. Unfortunately, the Blues did not manage to ride the wave of this second set won magnificently and they quickly fell back into their pitfalls. Brazil, wounded in its pride, seized the opportunity to make the third act a lone rider (17-25). And the start of the next set began to portend the worst with Brazilians coming out quickly (5-8). Sensing their Olympic future slipping away, the Blues reacted to return to the match (15-15). Heading for a new suspenseful end of the round? Not really because two blocks on Lucarelli were synonymous with a decisive 3-0 (18-15) to snatch the qualification for the quarters (25-21). And too bad if the tie-break escaped them completely (20-18), theessential was elsewhere for Ngapeth and others who will play against Poland in the quarter-finals.