Qualified, but in pain: the French volleyball team, Olympic champions, dominated Japan after the suspense and the tie break (25-17, 21-25, 26-24, 22-25, 18-16 ) Monday in Ljubljana to qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup, where she will find Italy.
The Blues will face the Italians, among their best enemies, on Wednesday in this same Stozice Arena (5:30 p.m.), whose stands could be fuller since Slovenia will play in stride.
Monday, only some 1,000 spectators attended this madness round of 16, won by the Blues by a mouse hole after a Homeric fight, on their second match point after saving one!
The deliverance, after more than two hours of play, came as a symbol of the star player of the Blues Earvin Ngapeth (17 pts), who found a small diagonal of a furious smash. Just before, the central replacing Quentin Jouffroy, with meager playing time since the start of the competition, had defended the Japanese attack with a headline…
“We are relieved”
The Blues, who are aiming for a first world champion title on Sunday in Katowice a year after the Olympic gold won in Tokyo, congratulated themselves after the point of victory as if they had won more than just a round of 16, aware of having come very close to returning home early.
“We are relieved, but there is still a bit of frustration. We have the impression that we were a little dominated in the match ” reacted Ngapeth at the microphone of L’Equipe TV.
As in the pools against Slovenia (3-2), where they had erased several match points, Ngapeth and his partners demonstrated their mental strength against the stunning and leaping Japanese trained by former coach and French international Philippe Blain ( 2001-2012). They came very close to a first victory against France since 2016. “They defended a lot. We know that the defense is their business, but we had a hard time putting the ball on the ground” also underlined Ngapeth.
Italy on their way
If, against the Slovenians, the French had quickly led in the tie-break, on Monday they had to draw on their resources to catch up, ahead 4 to 1. They took a first advantage (7-6) on a counter winner by Trevor Clevenot.
Clévenot, decisive at the end of the match, had been replaced quickly, because in check, against the Slovenes, by Kévin Tillie. On Monday, Tillie injured his foot during the game when he landed badly and the roles were therefore reversed.
The Blues were therefore able to count on their bench depth. The performances of Clévenot and Jouffroy bear witness to this, therefore, but also that of the usual replacement for the pointed position, Stephen Boyer. Boyer, who came into play during the match in place of Jean Patry, was also decisive in the tie-break, with a winning attack allowing France to regain a one-point lead (10-9), just before a victorious counter against central Barthélémy Chinenyeze (11-9).
Boyer’s contribution (17 pts) was also significant in the third set: he hit the bull’s eye with two attacks at the end of the round, offering a two-point lead (22-20). A few minutes later, the Blues led two sets to one. They seemed to have the game in hand.
It was without counting on Japan and their fiery duo composed of Yuji Nishida (31 pts), sharp in pocket size (1.87 m), and receiver-attacker Yuki Ichikawa (22 pts), who won the fourth set before pushing the Blues to their limits.