All-European men's final at Tokyo 2020 - ROC and France will play for gold!
Recap
All-European final, first after 21 years, will conclude the men's tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Saturday at 14:15 (CEST), as ROC and France will battle for the Olympic gold. On Thursday, ROC beat the Rio 2016 champions - Brazil after a thrilling clash 3-1 and France were unstoppable in their first ever Olympic semifinal, defeating Argentina in straight sets.
Brazil vs ROC 1-3 (25-18, 21-25, 24-26, 23-25)
Exactly like at Rio 2016, in the Olympic semifinal at Tokyo 2020, ROC faced Brazil. Once five years ago it was Brazil dethroning the London 2012 champions in the semifinal, now ROC took a revenge ending Brazilian dream about defending the title. The clash of the Volleyball titans delivered a spectrum of emotions. Although the team under guidance of Tuomas Sammelvuo didn't open the game well, being unable to stop Brazil and struggling a lot to find their rhythm. They managed to quickly bounce back in the second set, but the crucial moment of the game came in the third part. ROC were 12-20 behind, to eventually win this part 26-24. ROC's head coach said: "The third set was some kind of miracle. At 20-12 it looked impossible to change the momentum. We were nervous. Then everyone just relaxed on the court. Point by point we came back. I made a few substitutions and that helped." Even if Brazil were on a right track to take the fourth set, in the decisive moment they lost their confidence and ROC perfectly used the opportunity to close the match and go to the gold medal match. ROC's star Maxim Mikhaylov once again showed his strength scoring match-high 22 points (20 kills and 2 blocks), Egor Kliuka was their second scorer with 15 points. On Saturday they have a chance to win their fifth Olympic gold!
Maxim Mikhaylov"The first set we were really worried. Compare Russia to Brazil; they have lots of experience in the Olympics. They are the defending gold medallist. But we developed a mindset that Brazil is not as dangerous as they seem and we can do it. We made lots of substitutions and those definitely helped."
opposite of ROC
France vs Argentina 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-22)
France are not slowing down. Keeping the momentum after their great win over Poland in quarterfinals, they proved their strength once again. In the semifinal battle against Argentina they played in class of their own, performing on a very high level from the very beginning and showing no fear in their maiden Olympic semifinal. The team under guidance of Laurent Tillie controlled the situation during almost the entire match and dominated in all skills, facing some 'troubles' only in the third part, when Argentina were successfully chasing the score. But in the decisive part, France withstood pressure better and used the first ball to close the match. This time, Antoine Brizard was in charge of playmaking from the start, the 27-year-old setter was distributing balls perfectly to the French great trio Jean Patry (15 points), Trevor Clevenot (14) and Earvin Ngapeth (12) and it was a key to their well-balanced game and to this historic win. France already secured their first ever Olympic medal in Volleyball, the last question is if it will be a silver or gold.
Jean Patry“We wanted to win this match and we had a lot of pressure because it was to play for the final. We were a bit stressed on the court and it was difficult to play our opponents. I did some good things and some were average, but I am happy that this is a collective sport and today we played as a team. This is the most important thing."
opposite of France [by Volleyball World]