France – Brazil in Montpellier, an exceptional match before the Worlds

France-Brazil. The poster always shines in the eyes of any volleyball fan, who knows the culture of this sport on the side of Belo Horizonte, Florianopolis or Rio, and the brilliant record of the Seleçao, triple Olympic champion (1992, 2004, 2016), as much times world champion (2002, 2006, 2010) and ten times World/Nations League winner (last in 2021).

Except that this Saturday, the blue jersey will attract more in the Sud de France Arena in Montpellier, where the French men’s team will succeed its female counterpart. Because it is nothing less than the Olympic champions that we will see evolve, for the third time only in France since their title, won a little over a year ago.

Of the fourteen selected for the World Cup, which the Blues will start next Friday in Ljubljana (Slovenia), against Germany, eleven have reached the podium in Tokyo. Only the central Daryl Bultor, injured in the right shoulder, won’t be on the trip (the Olympic team has only twelve players). The long summer spent with the national team, after an eight-month club season, has not slowed them down. And even when they skipped part of the League of Nations (VNL), to rest (Toniutti, Le Goff, Clévenot, Brizard), welcome a new child (Grebennikov) or treat an injury (Tillie) , the coach could not see himself doing without them. “It’s important to have the best players, and also the best guys”summarizes Andrea Giani, their coach.

The Olympic champion card, and all that it presupposes of experience, logically serves as a skip-the-line. Especially when you maintain your level, as is the case with Kevin Tillie, who took over his place occupied by Pierre Derouillon during the VNL. “Kevin is still a cut above, and his history in the group makes it work well”confirms Loïc Geiler, one of Giani’s assistants.

The calendar does not encourage upsetting a selection either. ” Everything happened really fast, Geiler says. Andrea and Roberto (Ciamarra, Giani’s other assistant, in Modena as in the France team) arrived in mid-May, when there were few players available. We saw a maximum of them in three weeks afterwards. » Since his victory in the League of Nationson July 24, the French team spent ten days training in Bordeaux, then five in Montpellier. “Too short to change things”, continues Loïc Geiler. Too fair, too, to plan more than one official warm-up match (French and Brazilians also played a training match Thursday evening, behind closed doors, concluded at 2-2). Especially when it is necessary to change coach, after the departure of the Brazilian Bernardinho at the end of March. “We are following the plan he had established, we cannot plan a friendly match at the last moment”confirms Andrea Giani.

Not sure that the new coach would have done otherwise, since it is a priority to retype the tired bodies. “There were so many matches before (14 in less than two months in the League of Nations) that we have to refocus on the physical and the training”judges receiver-forward Kevin Tillie.

Weaned from matches, will the Blues be hungrier at the start of the World Championship? “It’s clear, we can’t wait for the competition to start, smiled Tillie. The preparation periods are very difficult and tiring. Even if the matches are more intense, it’s quieter, the bodybuilding and training sessions will be shorter. » First release of gluttons this Saturday evening.