Three weeks after the European Championships in Croatia finished in 9th place, the French water polo team starts this Monday (11:30 a.m.), against Brazil, the World Cup in Doha (Qatar).
With the desire to do as well, or even better, than during the last World Championships, last August in Fukuoka (Japan), where she finished in 6th place (a record).
6 months before the Paris Olympics, which they will compete at home at the Aquatics Center and the Paris Défense Arena, with the objective of winning a first Olympic medal in a century, the French polo players must strike a big blow during these Worlds. .
Even if the Euro last month served as an experiment, the Blues did not manage to beat the best nations in the world (Montenegro, Croatia, Spain and Serbia).
And to hang a charm next August, you will have to beat several…
“Even if we were not looking for performance at all costs and our desire was to carry out tests, we were disappointed not to finish in the European top 8,” admits Thomas Vernoux, the nugget of the Blues.
We believe in our potential.
We have a high goal between us, that of finishing in the top 4 of this World Cup.
This would be a historic result.
It's important to play well and win for the team's confidence.
We have done a good preparation and I hope we will reap the rewards.
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“We have never beaten Greece, it will be a great challenge”
Before leaving for Doha, the French team left twice for four-day training courses.
The first in Hungary, the country of the reigning world champions, then in Serbia, the country of the reigning Olympic champions.
Optimal preparation.
“We played every day.
It was intense but great, comments national coach Florian Bruzzo.
We now have to win matches.
We want to go as far as possible in this tournament by achieving good performances.
After whatever the results, there will be nothing definitive before next summer.
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The experienced Mehdi Marzouki (ex-Barcelona, Berlin), ill, had to withdraw from the competition.
But the French will be able to count on their prodigy Thomas Vernoux who will play again, as at the Euro, at left back and not up front.
“We think Thomas can be very good in this position.
He can score from mid-distance and on the counter-attack and have much more playing time than at the forefront, a demanding position, where he only plays half the game, explains Florian Bruzzo.
We are looking to make this team progress as much as possible.
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The Tricolores are in group B. After Brazil this Monday, they will face China on Wednesday (7 a.m.) then Greece on Friday (5 p.m.).
If they finish in first place, they will qualify directly for the quarter-finals.
If they finish 2nd or 3rd, they will go through the 8th final box and 4th place will be synonymous with elimination.
“Finishing first in the group could be a double-edged sword because we would have 3 days without playing between our last group match and the quarter-final and that could cause us to lack rhythm,” analyzes Thomas Vernoux.
But we are not here to calculate.
We want to win all our matches.
We have never beaten Greece (world vice-champion) in official competition.
It will be a great challenge.
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