Ruse, Bulgaria, September 13, 2018 - The clash of titans between Brazil and France turned in a real masterpiece and left more than 4500 spectators in the Arena Monbat breathless! The current Olympic champions were three points behind in the final tie-break but managed to come back and to achieve a second victory in Pool B 3-2 (25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 15-12).
Renan Dal Zotto, coach of Brazil: “I want to congratulate France for this heroic battle! It was a great match! Maybe our next game against them will be at the Finals in Torino, but now we must try to forget this win and to start thinking of our next match.”
Luiz Felipe Marques Fonteles - 'Lipe', player of Brazil: “I am very happy. France is one of the contenders for the title, so it is very important for us, of course, but we did not win anything - the championship is not finished. Of course, it is a big step for the next phase, but it is very important for us to keep our heads cool and keep thinking game after game, step by step. I think today’s game was played aggressively by both sides – service from their side, service from our side, blocks, defenses, it was a high-level game, it is difficult to find only one piece of the game that made the difference. I think that we played as a team. When we had difficulty with one player another player came in and made the difference, so we played as a team. I think for our side this was very important. I cannot say what the key was, but I can say that as a team we played very well. And the crowd here was very beautiful. Yesterday we did not see this, so I am very happy to see a lot of volleyball fans here to fill this very beautiful hall. It was amazing with an amazing atmosphere.”
Laurent Tillie, coach of France: “It was a very challenging and tough game. Unfortunately, Brazil took the victory. I tried many shifts of players during the game in order to achieve a strong serve, to rise the spirit of the team and to change something that could have given us a boost. And it worked, we found the right direction. We won the third and the fourth sets, and we managed to turn the score to reach the tie-break. In the tie-break Brazil defeated us with a more aggressive play. Now we have to forget about this match and to focus on the next one against Egypt, because we have to play new matches and we are here for the trophy.”
Benjamin Toniutti, captain of France: “Brazil did some good actions, the last service of Brizard was amazing and the libero took reception of this ball, so we had a chance to win the game. However, I am still proud of my team because we came back in the game with the entrance of Brizard, Patry, Rossard, so this was really important for us today. We have to continue this way and I hope this point will be important for the future.
Thibault Rossard, player of France: “We tried to do our best today against Brazil, but the first two sets were like a shock for us. After that we managed to come back and to put the match in tie-break. In the end Brazil won with a better attack and block. Despite the loss, we have to stay positive and to prepare for our next opponent in the best way possible, because Egypt is a strong team.”