The selection of France beat Azerbaijan, in Pool A, with the result 3:1 (25:19, 26:28, 25:11, 25:18), and the national team of Azerbaijan finished the competition at EuroVolley with this match.
The French opened the game in a great way, as they made two aces in the first three points. However, the Azerbaijanis didn’t want to give up easily and managed to catch the connection behind the moody rival - 8:10. A series of 5:0 for 15: 8 followed, with which France secured a calm finish of the set. Vugar Aliyev's team showed a dedicated game in the further course of the set, but they didn’t manage to make a turnaround - 19:25.
Many may have thought it was all from Azerbaijanis, but they offered strong resistance in the continuation of the match. From the start of the second set, they were determined to fight back, although they almost lost this part of the match. They had a constant lag behind the opponent, and then at the end of the mentioned period, they first saved the set ball - 23:24, and then, by mistake, the French won the premiere and reached the equalizer - 28:26.
It seemed that a fierce fight awaited us in the third set, but France didn’t think so, which took control of the match in a dominant way. This is supported by the fact that they were confident in attack and excellent in defense, while Azerbaijan struggled to win every point. At the end of the set, France lost only 11 points to the rival. The third period ended with 25:11.
Where they stopped in the third, Emil Rousseau's team continued in the fourth set. With a safe game, they didn’t allow a new equalizer, nor a chance for Azerbaijan to win the first point. The set ended with 25:18.