overwhelmed, the Blues lost in the semi-finals against the overexcited Italians

Of the Azzurri untouchables. The Blues lost 3 sets to 0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-23) in the semi-finals in Rome against the Italians pushed by their audience, Thursday September 14. At the time of the hymns within the PalaLottomatica crowded, the trend was already given. It was a real shock that the 11,000 fans were waiting for, between the 2021 European champions and 2022 world champions and the 2021 Olympic champions. As in 2010, the Blues, dressed in red on Thursday evening, left this legendary arena empty-handed. Arrived with the status of outsiders, Earvin Ngapeth and his teammates did not put the Italians in doubt, as the Dutch did in the quarter-finals (3-2).

The French team was however warned. Twelve of the 14 players were perfectly aware of the high level that reigns among their neighbors, since they played there for at least a year. Laurent Tillie, coach of the Blues between 2012 and 2021, had alerted on franceinfo:sport the day before: “The Italian game is mainly based on blocking.” The Transalpines did not deviate from their principles and trapped the French, overwhelmed by the incessant attacks of Riccardo Sbertoli (passer) and Alessandro Michieletto (receiver-attacker). They will face the Slovenes, defeated by the Poles in the other semi-final, for third place on Saturday at 6 p.m.