Olympics: in volleyball, the incredible resilience of the Blues of Ngapeth and Tillie

French volleyball had never reached the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games.

This Saturday at 2.15 p.m. (French time), the French volleyball players will yet play an Olympic final against Russia, in Tokyo, Japan, a historic moment after their feat against Poland in the quarter-finals (3-2) and their full victory. authority against Argentina (3-0) in the semi-finals.

This final will be the last match on the bench of coach Laurent Tillie, nine years after taking office in the fall of 2012. It also rewards the incredible resilience of the Blues of volleyball since the start of the tournament and during these years for win among the best teams.

A qualification snatched in the group stage

To reach this stage of the competition, Earvin Ngapeth and his teammates first had to recover from a complicated start to the competition. They had snatched their qualification by winning two sets against Brazil (2-3), the champion of the Rio Olympics, in the last match of the group stage. Previously, Laurent Tillie's men had lost two games out of four, against Argentina (2-3) and at the opening against the United States (0-3).

"Sometimes, I can not explain to us. We started the tournament tense," explained the team leader, Earvin Ngapeth, after the victory against Poland in the quarter-finals.

"When we were back against the wall, we said to ourselves 'guys, we have nothing to lose, let's be us, let's enjoy it'. That's what makes the difference and then the group (...) Everything the world brings. It's a magical group. "

"Not yet the list of the great volleyball nations"

A group that has been built in difficulty and adversity, facing the giants of the discipline such as Poland, Russia and Brazil. In 2012, when Laurent Tillie took the reins, the Blues had just failed to qualify for the London Olympics. "We have gained respect for a few years but we do not yet have the winners of the great nations of volleyball", summarized Earvin Ngapeth upstream of the competition.

Admittedly, the coach of the Blues had led his team to the top during the victories at Euro 2015 and during the World Leagues, an annual competition, of 2015 and 2017. But the results were also irregular.

France had thus left Euro 2019 in the semi-finals after an elimination against Serbia (3-2) at home, in Paris.

And at the Rio Olympics in 2016, the adventure was cut short in Brazil, in the first round.

One last hurdle

The French volleyball players will this time have the opportunity to show definitively that a long way has been come since these failures. The French beat the Russians (3-1) eight days ago in a crucial group match for them, but without a big stake for their rivals. But the Russians, unplayable when their servers send lead, can sometimes be fanciful and irregular. The Blues take the opportunity to mark the history of their sport.