Ruse, Bulgaria, September 18, 2018 - Earvin Ngapeth led France to a remarkable win against Canada 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17) in front of over 2500 spectators in “Arena Monbat”!
Benjamin Toniutti, captain of France: “This match was really important for us because we knew that if we had lost it would have been almost the end of the World Championship for us. We stayed together during the game and we were really focused. I think we play good and we have to continue this way and be ready for a though second round. We are in the best 16 teams in the world now, so we know that every opponent will be really ready and strong. We have to play the best volleyball we are capable of and to try to win at least two games, and may be even three, if we want to go to the final six. We are really happy that we played here in Ruse. The crowd was really supportive and the atmosphere was really nice.”
Earvin Ngapeth, player of France: “We are very happy for this win. We managed to take three points out of this match, which is really important. We are going to Varna now and we are going to make three games at a high level with three big teams. It will be difficult in every game and we need to stay focused. We play every year in Bulgaria and we know that we have a lot of fans here. Every time we are playing in here we are very happy.”
Nicolas Le Goff, player of France: “It was really important to reach this three points tonight, they are really important for the second round. I think we played a good game with a good intensity. We will try our best in the second phase and we will see what will happen.”
John Gordon Perrin, captain of Canada: “We just made a lot of simple mistakes in the crucial moments. They looked like an easy points for us and we were making mistakes like a net touch or something like that. May be we were a little bit nervous because we knew the importance of this match.”
Sharone Vernon-Evans, player of Canada: “We started the tournament in the best way possible. We achieved three victories and then we faced two really strong teams – Brazil and France. I think we played well against both of them. We didn’t give up in the game against Brazil nor in the one against France today, but we found some problems in our game which we need to improve in the next few days. No matter which teams will be our opponents in the next round, we need to show our best. I expect to come out on the field and to make everything possible to win. I hope to achieve three wins. We will give our best, this is for sure!”