Belgrade (AFP)
The Serbian volleyball team has managed to "stun" France "in the middle of Paris" in an "unreal semi-final" of the Euro-2019, the Serbian press congratulates on Saturday, the day after the match won 3 to 2 by Serbia, who will face Slovenia in the final.
"Eagles stronger than all Paris!", Welcomes the newspaper Informer, which speaks of "an incredible evening in Paris for those who love volleyball and Serbia".
"The final !!! Watch out for the Slovenians ... Serbia has amazed France in the center of Paris," headlines Blic, one of the leading Serbian dailies, the day after this success in Bercy.
"After the tragedy and the show, Serbia will fight for gold," Serbian National Television (RTS) announced on its website.
The Serbs will target Saturday a second title of European champion after the one gleaned in 2011, against the Slovenians who have already scored a huge feat in the semifinal beating Poland, double world champions in title (2014 and 2018).
French and Poles will compete for third place, also on Saturday.
Laurent Tillie's Bleus lost 3 sets to 2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 17-25, 15-7) in Bercy. Impeccable since the beginning of the tournament, they stammered their game on this last step before the final they dreamed of playing in front of their audience.
The Serbian tabloid Telegraf evokes for its part a semi-final "unreal". "There was a flip-flop and drama, many bad decisions of the referees in favor of the Tricolores, but the feat of our team has corrected all that at the right time," said this daily.
Telegraf also evokes another "shock for the 13,000 French in the hall", caused by a handful of Serbian supporters who disrupted the minute of silence in tribute to French President Jacques Chirac, who died Thursday.
"We do not forget the great role that Chirac had in the bombardment of Serbia by NATO and the revolt could not be concealed so many years later," reads in this newspaper.
Jacques Chirac was President of France in 1999 when NATO intervened militarily, with the participation of France, to put an end to the Kosovo war (1998-99) between the Albanian separatists and the Serbian forces.
© 2019 AFP