Montpellier (AFP)

In the country of world champion footballers in 1998 and 2018, rugby players and Hand Experts, French volleyball is facing fierce competition among team sports, but hopes to make a name for itself thanks to "its" Euro-2019.

"It's super competitive, we're the only country in the world that can do well in football, rugby, basketball, handball, volleyball, we fight against all these sports and we pull out our tongue," he says. the coach of the Blues Laurent Tillie.

In France, the hand has had its Worlds -2001 and 2017 for the men, 2007 for the ladies- and its Euro-2018 ladies finished in apotheosis with the gold of the girls of Olivier Krumbholz, already world champions.

For its part, men's basketball received the best of the continent in 2015 in Lille, while the girls welcomed Europe in 2001 and 2013, and will give a layer in 2021.

And volleyball in all this? Nothing since the 1986 World Championship, finished in 6th place. For the Euro, we must go back to 40 years and the edition of 1979. An eternity.

"It's important for the volleyball itself, as long as you have a competition, there's a lot more interest and more visibility, and that's a way of promoting our sport, It is important to show that there are other collective sports, "says Laurent Tillie.

"The collective sports in France are very strong and very successful.Our first competition won is 2015 with the Euro.We have never won before.So it is normal that we are behind," says the star of the team, Earvin Ngapeth.

- Late ticketing -

In terms of licensees, volleyball (100,000) is five times less provided than basketball or handball. But for the hand, the rise has come gradually, a long-term work thanks to the exceptional results over more than two decades for both men and women.

And the French volleyball players do not see themselves carry the hopes of the whole discipline, pressure they had put on their shoulders during the 2016 Olympic Games, the Euro-2017 and the World Cup-2018, concluded on three failures.

"Today, we thought we need to take pleasure and remove the false pressure to win," said Ngapeth.

One of the key elements will be the mobilization of the public in the three halls where the Blues will evolve, starting with Montpellier for the five matches of the first round on Thursday against Romania, then Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria and Italy .

"I will take the example of women's football: they have not won but the popularity has risen, there were people in the stadiums, I think they have made many girls want to play football" , slips the striker / receptionist star of the Blues.

For the first weekend, volleyball will directly experience this competition of other sports "co", since the match against Greece is expected at exactly the same time (17h15) as the first match of the Champions League of Montpellier in handball, a few kilometers away.

"We're halfway on the box office, we sell a lot at the last minute, we've spent a good 25,000, we'll have to do the rest during the competition," said Loïc Duroselle, general manager of the competition. goal is 50 to 70,000 tickets sold.

The final phase of six Nations League in 2018 in a stadium Pierre-Mauroy Lille full (more than 10,000 spectators for the final France-Russia), certainly on a much shorter duration (four days against twenty to 'Euro), proved that there was an expectation of the French public.

© 2019 AFP