"We still have a lot to do" - France to make history at Tokyo 2020
Feature
After defeating the two-time reigning world champions in the quarterfinals, France reached the Olympic semifinal for the first time. Although it was a bumpy road leading to the last four at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Laurent Tillie's squad have made their mark with their historic feat. France are only 15th country with a status of the Olympic semifinalist in the men's Volleyball and only sixth to appear in the semifinals in this century - following regular four Russia, Italy, Brazil, and USA that were joined by Bulgaria on one occasion. But they definitely aim higher as an Olympic medal is at their fingertips!
Tuesday night was a night to remember for the French team, as Poland seemed to be inconvenient opponent for them, especially in 2019 when they lost the battle for the Olympic ticket in International Olympic Qualifier in Gdansk and then in front of home crowd they suffered a defeat from them in the bronze medal match at the EuroVolley 2019 in Paris. "It's one of the victories that has been the most enjoyable for nine years, but for the moment, we have nothing, there are two battles left, we will recover quickly, we will die on the court to get what we want to take" - said Earvin Ngapeth being interviewed after their victory by French Volleyball Federation (FFVB).
Benjamin Toniutti"It's a memorable evening, it's huge, I've been here in this team for twelve years, I wanted that, that we do it all together with this group, it's exceptional, we want to go until the end. Now we have to focus on the semifinal, it will be hard because the Argentines are playing very well, we will have to be ready for a big fight."
team captain of France [by ffvb.org]
And, indeed, the French team have already shown their never-say-die attitude in their fifth Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020, rising from the ashes in the preliminary round when they were on the edge of elimination after losing to the USA and Argentina. Then, playing to stay alive in the Olympic quest they beat ROC and challenged Brazil in five-setter. After eliminating Poland in quarterfinals they are a step from the medal. "Since the match against Russia, we started to play as we can, we had the impression that we had nothing more to lose, and we found each other. I don't think that this level of play is that surprising, because we know that we are able to play like that, we also know that we sometimes have two faces, we have seen those two faces in this competition," said Antoine Brizard in an interview for FFVB. The 27-year-old setter was the man of the game with his stunning performance as he substituted Toniutti in the late first set, staying in charge of playmaking through the rest of the game and making a big difference with his freshness and smart sets.
They have a chance to become the third representatives of France in team sports - following basketball and handball - to win an Olympic medal for their country.
Antoine Brizard"We try not to think about it for now, we still have a lot to do, it can be such a disappointment if we don't win a medal that we don't focus on it, we can also return with nothing to France. Of course we are proud and grateful to the people who support us, we see through social networks that people are vibrant during our matches, it's very pleasant to feel this support and to see the emotions we give our fans, we know it can be even more beautiful, but we try to only think about the next game."
setter of France [by ffvb.org]