Lausanne, Switzerland, May 7, 2018 - The 2018 FIVB season is expected to be an extraordinary experience for France's men's national team, ahead of the inaugural FIVB Volleyball Nations League starting later this month and the FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship coming later in Italy and Bulgaria.
The VNL is particularly special, as France get to host the finals of the brand new competition, from July 4 to 8 in Lille, in addition to welcoming Iran, Japan and Australia in the opening week of pool play in Rouen, May 25-27, and another weekend in Aix-en-Provence with Korea, Argentina and Serbia from June 8-10.
"It's going to be a year when we have to learn how to play and especially to win in front of our audience," said France's head coach Laurent Tillie in an interview to the French Volleyball Federation website. "It must serve us to learn how to manage the pressure of a competition at home."
Read the full interview (in French) on the FFVB website
The way France cope with this pressure is also crucial to their 2019 obligations, when they host the European Championship (jointly with Belgium, the Netherlands and Slovenia).
"France have not played a big competition at home since the 1986 World Championship and this opportunity gives meaning to what we have done so far. I think it is a pivotal period that can serve as a launching pad to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games," added the 54-year-old, who played for France in the 1986 competition when the team ranked 6th.
The first group of French national team players gathered last week in Montpellier, with more joining as their club obligations around the world concluded.
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