Paris (AFP)

With players ranked among the best on the planet, the shock of the quarter-finals of Euro-2019 volleyball on Tuesday between France and Italy will be the occasion of a confrontation at a distance in three key positions: the smuggler, sharp and striker / receiver.

Paolo Perrone is the Italian statistician of the French team since 2017. He decrypts the qualities of the six players on which the spotlight will be focused Tuesday night in Nantes.

. Ngapeth / Juantorena, the stars

Earvin Ngapeth is the star of the French team, European champion in 2015. And transalpine side, Osmany Juantorena also fulfills this role, since the native of Santiago de Cuba was naturalized and he joined the Nazionale in 2015.

At Euro-2019, Ngapeth played less due to a rib injury at the end of preparation but slowly returned to his best level, while Juantorena carried Italy on the first lap.

"Osmany is a bit more physical, he is taller and jumps higher, and for Earvin there is a more magical side, he is more technical, he has more variation in service, and he may be a bit more stable in reception than Juantorena ", note Perrone.

"But Osmany has a lot of experience, he won everything with Trento and Lube Civitanova, two very important players for both teams."

. Toniutti / Giannelli, the genies of the pass

The best passer of the 2015, 2017 and 2018 Nations Leagues, Benjamin Toniutti was considered at the beginning of 2010 to be the best in the world. But the emergence of the young Simone Giannelli, the talent trained in Trento and player manager of his team at 23, came to redistribute the cards in 2015.

"Giannelli, I think this is the new model of the smuggler, very physical (2.00 m against 1.83 for Toniutti), with a very good service that it can vary.But, it is very strong", Perrone details.

"In defense, I think that + Totti + is one of the best players, and at the service he has great variation, but it's sure that Giannelli's ball is coming faster," he said.

If their game varies because of the different styles for each team (more physical for Italy), common points also appear between the two smugglers: "both are able to give the ball for the central, to 3 or 4 meters of the net, and they play on the speed. "

. Boyer / Zaytsev, the overpowered sharp

At only 23 years old, it's putting a lot of pressure on Stéphen Boyer's shoulders to compare him to Ivan Zaytsev, dubbed the Terrible for his power in the service. The Italian has the experience of his 28 years, to a position that requires a certain maturity.

"Ivan is taller than + Steph '+ (2.02m against 1.96m), but this one jumps higher than Ivan, both of them hit the ball really hard," said the statistician.

On his own, Zaytsev can decide on a meeting, like in the semi-finals of the Olympic Games in Rio: while the Italians are in trouble, he connects six services that make the switchover side of the transalpine, who will win the money under rings.

"He is able to change a match in the service, for us it will be necessary to pay attention." Stephen is not bad, he served well early in the competition, but Ivan is more regular, "said Paolo Perrone.

Zaytsev also holds the world record fastest service, flashed at 134 km / h in the League of Nations in 2018.

"Both of them prefer to attack on the diagonal, which is their strong blow, but they are able to hit hard on the line," added Perrone, who sees Zaytsev as a more precise contractor than Boyer.

© 2019 AFP