Olympic champions France looking to regain European crown
Preview
France has probably never entered the CEV EuroVolley Men with a level of expectations as high as it will in 2021, but going through what’s arguably the greatest moment of its existence, the country’s national team seems to have all the tools to deliver and take home a second continental gold medal.
The recently-crowned Olympic champions have a long history at the EuroVolley, having appeared in as many as 29 of the 31 editions of the tournament. And even though they’ve finished 11 times between eighth and tenth, the French have also won seven medals, including four silver (1948, 1987, 2003 and 2009) and two bronzes (1951 and 1985).
Their highlight in the tournament is, of course, their victory in 2015, when they completely dominated Slovenia in Bulgaria to win the gold medal match in straight sets. Nearly half of that squad remains involved with the national team, providing the French with the winning experience they need to regain the gold medal six years later.
Among them are Tokyo Olympics Most Valuable Player and star outside hitter Earvin Ngapeth, setter and team captain Benjamin Toniutti, outstanding libero Jennia Grebennikov and reliable middle blocker Nicolas Le Goff.
The French campaign has elevated some younger players to another level in their careers, most notably setter Antoine Brizard, now a real contender for the position’s starting spot, opposite Jean Patry, the team’s second-best scorer in Tokyo, and middle blocker Barthélémy Chinenyeze, who made it to the Olympic Dream Team. The growth of these players makes the French squad even stronger heading to the EuroVolley.
The difficult task of selecting players and starting lineups will no longer be on Laurent Tille’s hands, though, as the coach departed on a high, right after the historic victory in Tokyo. His replacement, who will be at the helm for the first time at the EuroVolley, is the legendary Brazilian Bernardinho Rezende, a six-time Olympic medal-winner with his country’s men’s and women’s teams – two gold (2004 and 2016), two silver (2008 and 2012) and two bronze (1996 and 2000).
It will be interesting to see how fast Bernardinho can put his fingerprints in a team that just reached the top of the world and France’s Pool D matches against Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Slovakia and Germany in Tallinn, Estonia, should be really fun to watch.