Montpellier (AFP)

With his dazzling left arm, serving and attacking, Julien Lyneel is on his little cloud and dazzled the South Arena of France on the first four matches of France at the Euro volleyball, a perfect substitute for Earvin Ngapeth.

If there is one who did not want to miss this Euro, it's him. At 29, Julien Lyneel is at home on this group phase of the European Championship, he who grew up in Montpellier.

Out of the question so for him not to be in the group, while he had not been selected for the Rio Olympics in 2016, facing a very strong competition among the Blues at his post.

Initially he was not supposed to start the meetings of this Euro, the place being reserved for Earvin Ngapeth. A warm-up attack in the final pre-season game on September 7 for the 2015 European Champion Star, however, changed the situation: rib pain and muscular injury that required rest for Ngapeth, and a place holder for Lyneel.

Top scorer against Romania in opening (18 points), he especially impressed, like the rest of the team, Monday against Bulgaria (17 points), often cited among the outsiders of the competition like France, Italy or Serbia.

"I'm not physically bothered anymore, I feel good, I play with guys who trust me, we play well collectively, and all goes well," says the left-handed ponytail, easily identifiable on the ground.

- Depth of bench -

Attacker / receiver who makes the heyday of Jastrzebski in the Polish first division, volleyball par excellence, Lyneel offers an atypical profile in modern volleyball, with a long physique (1.92 m for 88 kg) far from the muscular masses that the can be found in Russia or Serbia.

Passed by the formation of the football club of Montpellier, where he rubbed with Remy Cabella or Younès Belhanda, he finally branched out to volleyball, indoor and on the sand, that his parents practiced.

He recognizes that "playing at home, it brings a little more." Family, friends, it gives strength, that's for sure, "he slips, after spending time with loved ones in the Montpellier room, at the end of the demonstration against Bulgaria.

"It's better than playing deep in Siberia, it's just happiness," he adds.

In recent days, he performs one of his best scores under the tricolor jersey, but not necessarily the best. "I remember a European Championship in 2013 where I felt very good, or a World League in 2016," he notes.

Victim of a broken cruciate ligament in the left knee, he missed the 2014 World Cup, where the French were close to the podium, beaten by Germany for the bronze medal. However, it was the historic double in 2015: triumph in the World League in the summer in Brazil, and first European title in the autumn in Bulgaria.

With the gradual return of Ngapeth (who served twice in the first set against Bulgaria) and that of Trévor Clevenot (recovered from his groin injury at the end of preparation), Lyneel's playing time will drop with five strikers / receivers in the group, but that does not pose any problem.

"Earvin, he's here, he'll come back and play again, do not worry about him, but there are other players in the French team, we're not only six or seven, we've proved it," he concluded.

© 2019 AFP