There was no feat for the Blues: outsiders of this high-flying duel, they did not manage to doubt their hosts, winners 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-20).

Italy will aim for an 8th continental title, the second in a row, Saturday against Poland in the same Sports Palace in Rome, while France will try to console itself the same day with the bronze medal against Slovenia.

Shouted at their entrance on the field and targeted in the first set by spectators who blinded them with lasers, the Blues coached by the Italian legend of the "pallavolo" Andrea Giani held the shock until 18-18 in the first set.

But the Nazionale with its brilliant setter Simone Gianelli at the helm finished strong to pocket the opening set in 29 minutes.

At the beginning of the second set, the Blues fell back into their shortcomings of this tournament, collecting direct faults on the services (3 consecutive for a total of nine in the set).

Ngapeth on land

The joint entries of Earvin Ngapeth and Stephen Boyer at 13-7 in favor of the Italians stopped the bleeding, but the damage was done and the Blues conceded the second set on a new fault on serve.

Quite a symbol, in the 3rd set, Ngapeth, spared until then in the tournament, found himself on the ground after seeing his attack countered by the Italian block. His Blues failed to get up.

Even the hoped-for title will not be at the end, this Euro allows the Olympic champions of Tokyo in 2021 to reassure themselves a year of "their" Olympics", next summer in Paris.

If they won the League of Nations 2022, the Blues remained on two major disappointing tournaments (9th of Euro-2021, 5th of the World Cup-2022).

The French did not completely dispel doubts during a group stage marked by a defeat against Romania that especially allowed Andrea Giani to carry out a squad review, in particular to assess the state of form of his star player Earvin Ngapeth.

And although he is a volleyball phenomenon, voted best player of the 2021 Olympic tournament, Ngapeth was not ready to play a tournament of this intensity after a long absence of four months due to injury.

A long shot

The one who is considered one of the best receivers-attackers in activity had to settle for snippets of match, until the semi-final where Giani tried everything for everything, after being decisive in the first set of the 8th final against Bulgaria.

This tournament was also a reminder that the golden generation of French volleyball is driven by an exceptional team spirit that allows it to compensate for a certain deficit in power and size.

They swept in the 8th final in Varna their Bulgarian hosts 3-0, then corrected in the quarterfinals on the same score the Romanians who had beaten them in the group stage.

That wasn't enough, however, against Italy, more athletic, more confident and younger, whose reign may have only just begun.

© 2023 AFP