The French volleyball team is still on cloud nine, almost a year after its Olympic title in Tokyo.
One month before the World Cup, the Blues won a third title in the League of Nations by winning the final against the United States.
A painful victory in five sets (25-16, 25-19, 15-25, 21-25, 15-10), Sunday in Bologna.
The Blues, trained since the end of March by former Italian international Andrea Giani, will now aim for the world title, the only one they miss, in a month in Poland and Slovenia (August 26-September 11).
"We are a team that has reached maturity, we took a lot of blows on the head, we lost a lot, we missed out on a lot of competitions and that's what forged us", savored French leader Earvin Ngapeth after the game.
“We know what we have to do to get on the podium.
And here it is: today we proved that we are a great team, that we are reaching maturity.
It's not easy when you win 2 0 and you get caught, ”he added.
The United States had already done the trick to them
Imperial during the first two rounds against the Americans, the French indeed suffered at the end of the game by conceding their first sets in this final phase.
At the beginning of July, the United States had already upset France in the preliminary round.
Trailing two sets to nil, the Americans were tied before winning 3-2.
But in the tie-break of this Bologna final, the French had the last word.
They were able to count on the efficiency of Antoine Brizard in the service and the talent of Earvin Ngapeth, author of 22 points (the best scorer of the game), to take the gold medal.
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