2023-09-15 01:57:58
It’s finish. The French team failed in its quest for the European title. Eleven months before defending its Olympic gold medal at home in Paris, France was eliminated in the semi-final of the Euro. European champions in 2015, the Blues failed in Rome against the Italian world champions. Stronger on this evening in almost all areas, the Italians largely dominated to win 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-23), clean and flawless. The French lacked too many things to go further: freshness, a little madness, speed and a little more success. On this Thursday in September, there is nothing to dispute about the victory of the Italians, on their way to retaining their European title acquired in 2021.
The Blues played the 7th semi-final of a European Championship in their history. A glass ceiling that France has only exceeded twice, losing in the final in 2009 against Poland and winning the title in 2015 against Slovenia. Poland-Slovenia was the poster for the other semi-final and the Poles won 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-21). For around ten years, the Euro has come down to a fight between these four nations that is sometimes disrupted by Serbia or Germany.
Italy was too strong
This time, in Rome, this Saturday, we will be entitled to an Italy-Poland final. The Blues, who played in red against the Squadra Azzurra, did not take up the challenge imposed in their lair by the Italian champions of Europe 2021 and the world 2022. In a PalaLottomatica fully committed to the Italian cause, the champions Olympics failed and will have to settle for a small final against Slovenia. They fell in front of their nemesis, a transalpine team who had knocked them out in the quarter-finals of the last world championship. An Italian team that is too strong on this one.
Yes, of course, the French resisted the Italian fury. Earvin Ngapeth’s teammates, still recovering, held out for a half-set, the first. The two teams remained neck and neck for a long time (17-16) and then the Blues began to multiply the small errors of nothing at all, the serves in the net or outside. The Italians did not ask as much to gain confidence. They won the first set 25-21 with an intractable Simone Giannelli.
The second set started on the same basis as the end of the previous one. The Transalpines gradually ate the French on the head. Ngapeth did pull off two or three pirouettes which he has the secret to but there wasn’t much to do. The Italians didn’t give up to win the second set 25-19. It then became complicated, too complicated for the players of Italian coach Andrea Giani who were too overwhelmed by the Italians on cloud nine (25-23), despite an oddity in refereeing on the match point.
“We didn’t get into the match”
“When Italy is in front, it’s hard to come back,” agrees Earvin Ngapeth at the microphone of La Chaîne l’Équipe. We had a too tense start to the match. We didn’t get into the match and they gained confidence. The Italians were stronger than us. What we miss is the start of the match. Despite all the physical problems we had, we still had the chance to get a medal. »
The wall of Rome did not crack, France did not find the solution and the dream of the final collapsed. The Blues will be content with a small final against Slovenia, a remake of the 2015 final which they won. They are eliminated from the Euro and already know that they will not be the favorites for the next Olympic tournament in Paris, at home. It could well be Italy. The Blues have less than a year to shake up the hierarchy and arrive stronger at “their” Games.
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