Paris (AFP)
The semi-finals of the Euro Volleyball will pit France against Serbia on Friday at Paris-Bercy and Slovenia against Poland on Thursday in Ljubljana.
The French qualified Tuesday sweeping Italy 3-0 (25-16, 27-25, 25-14) in Nantes. The Blues have managed a perfect match in the image of their point Stephen Boyer, author of 25 points (including 9 aces) and the star Earvin Ngapeth.
The Italian Olympic vice champions did not doubt the host country, supported by 8000 fans, at the end of the second set. But they missed three set balls and gave the French the handle on two unforced errors of their best striker Ivan Zaytsev, nonexistent Tuesday.
In the other quarter-final of the night, in Antwerp, the Serbs had a lot more trouble than expected in getting rid of Ukraine 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 19 -25, 15-9). Aleksandar Atanasijevic and Uros Kovacevic were the two best Serb markers with 24 and 21 points.
On Monday, the Slovenes had created a surprise by eliminating the Russians, title holders, in front of their public Ljubljana. They will have to achieve an even greater feat against the Poles, double world champions in title, if they want to play their second final at the Euro after the lost 2015 against France.
The French will be slightly favored in front of their audience, even if the last big match between the two teams had turned in favor of the Serbs (3-2) last year at the World Cup.
© 2019 AFP