A simple formality!
After a delicate victory against Germany (25-22, 28-26, 26-24) at the opening of the World Cup on Friday and an anthology success against Slovenia on Sunday (25-21, 22-25, 22-25 , 34-32, 15-7), the volleyball Blues continued at the same pace by ending their group phase with a show of force against Cameroon on Tuesday in Ljubljana (Slovenia).
A volleyball lesson in three sets (25-19, 25-19, 25-22) and dispatched in barely an hour of play (1h05 exactly).
A result obtained with a team from France bis.
After the burst of energy in the first two games of the competition, coach Andrea Giani had logically decided to rotate his group against the weakest team in the group and to offer playing time to the usual substitutes.
Of the starting 7 - including Libero - of the duel against the Slovenians on Sunday, only the central Barthélémy Chinenyeze was on the field from the start against Cameroon.
Author of a very good entry on Sunday, the receiver-attacker Kevin Tillie was also present.
On the other hand, Earvin Ngapeth, the star of the Blues, for whom this match had a particular flavor since his father Eric was born and played for the Cameroon team, attended the meeting from the bench.
It was therefore from the square reserved for substitutes that the usual incumbents witnessed the victory.
After two first one-sided sets, the Indomitable Volleyball Lions fought back in the 3rd round (5-8).
A rebellion quickly put down by Benjamin Toniutti and his partners.
On the second match point, an attack by Trevor Clévenot put an end to the suspense.
📣 Earvin Ngapeth: "Cameroon, my second home"
🔎 Earvin Ngapeth will live a match like no other on Tuesday against Cameroon, the country of origin of his father Eric.
Since Ljubljana, the receiver / attacker took the time to confide.
👉 https://t.co/063UQrr1ft pic.twitter.com/7mqFIPZ1aS
— FFvolley (@FFvolley) August 30, 2022
"It was a difficult group, it's good to finish undefeated," says Kevin Tillie.
Cameroon are a physical team and it was not such an easy game.
We had to stay focused.
It's good to have been able to give everyone playing time and rhythm.
»
European champions in 2015, Olympic champions last year in Tokyo, the Blues therefore end the group stage undefeated and are still in the race to win the only title missing from their list.
But they will still have to wait before knowing the rest of their program and the name of their future opponent in the round of 16.
The convoluted formula of this World Cup is such that they will indeed have to wait until the end of the pool matches (Wednesday evening) to know their final ranking (among the 16 qualified) and the place of the 8th final (Slovenia or Austria).
In all likelihood, thanks to their first three results, they should still be among the top five teams and thus avoid a trap match in the next round.