Anatomy of an upset: how Czechia beat France

Most of the eighth finals at EuroVolley 2021 went as predicted. The higher ranked team taking care of the lower ranked team in three or four sets without much fanfare. That all came to an end on Monday night however as the Czech Republic defeated the most dominant team of the summer in three sets. With the match still fresh in our minds, let’s take a look at what happened.

Ostrava's Army

The home fans in the match provided the fuel for the players of the Czech team. They were loud, enthusiastic, and electrifying from when their team entered the arena until they left. Having a home crowd like that at your back can be a boost in crucial moments, like the many match points that France denied in the 3^rd set that ended at 34-32. The young players of Czechia especially seemed to feed of the crowd, and gave them a reason to celebrate.

Vasina’s Party

We have covered his sensational tournament performance here before, but tonight’s match puts an exclamation point on 22-year-old Lukas Vasina’s breakout tournament. He was one of the offensive engines on the team, scoring 15 points on an efficient 71% attacking, and was a steady option on the many times Czechia relied on him to side out. He will need to keep this high level if Czechia hope to repeat their success in the next match.

Veteran Journey

Team captain Jakub Janouch gave a thoughtful answer when asked about the key to victory in a game like this when where many outside the team did not have expectations on them to win.

With another match still to go against Slovenia in front of a boisterous home crowd, this Czech team has the ability to be the biggest story of the entire tournament.