Tallinn (AFP)

Assured to finish at the top of their group even before entering the field, the French volleyball players did not however give a gift to Estonia, their hosts of the first round of Euro-2021, by winning 3 sets to 0, Thursday evening in Tallinn.

With five victories in as many games in Group D, the Blues finish this first round unbeaten, just like Poland, first in Group A and which finds itself at the same time in the same half of the table as that of the French.

Monday in Ostrava in the round of 16, the French will face the Czech Republic, which had left France at this stage of the competition at Euro-2017 and which will play with the support of its public in Moravia-Silesia.

"The results are super positive, the staff has managed well over the long term. With five group matches, you have to know how to run. The group is physically ready. We were able to work and not only on the field, which is important for the rest of the competition, "said Blues striker-receiver Yacine Louati, who came into play for the second and third sets on Thursday instead of Earvin Ngapeth.

The Blues enforced logic in this first round, played in the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, well stocked (3,900 spectators) for this last Baltic evening.

In five matches, they have yielded only one round against the power of the Germans.

Apart from this small hitch, the Blues played their game, while relaxed, broad smiles on their faces, their trademark.

- Half Polish painting -

Thursday, due to a long match played and won in the tie-break by Germany against Slovakia in the first part, the French Olympic champions a month ago in Tokyo did part of their warm-up in the stands, to not not waste too much time for the kickoff.

The growing sense of power against Latvia on Wednesday was confirmed against Estonia on Thursday, with a full game again.

"We have a great group dynamic, which means that we manage to have a lot of serenity on the field. We are lucky to have that and it is also all the fruit of the work that was done with Laurent (Tillie, the former coach, Editor's note) We manage to use it well, ”Louati said.

The France team, already victorious over Germany at the Euro, on September 6, 2021 in Tallinn, disposed of the host country in three sets RAIGO PAJULA AFP / Archives

The gang in Ngapeth (five points Thursday night in a disputed round) will now leave the shores of the Baltic to travel to Central Europe, with a first stop in the Czech Republic in Ostrava for the knockout stages and the quarter-finals.

The second stop, if all goes well, is planned in Katowice in Poland, a good hour's drive from Ostrava, where in the semi-final they could cross paths with Poland, the two reigning world champion (2014). and 2018) and defeated 3 sets to 2 in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Games.

Until then, the road for the two selections is still long and strewn with pitfalls.

© 2021 AFP