Image Source: Alamy Stock Photo
2024 Olympic Games
Volleyball
South Paris Arena 1
Paris, France
7-10 August 2024
France's Olympic title defence is going smoothly thus far as they prepare to face Italy in the semi-finals of the men's volleyball tournament at
Paris 2024.
France won their first gold medal when they beat Russia 3-2 in the Tokyo 2020 final and they've lost just once in four matches at this year's Games en route to the semi-finals.
The defending champions beat Serbia 3-2 and Canada 3-0 before going down 3-2 to Slovenia in the final round of the group stages, but they bounced back by eliminating Germany 3-2 in the quarter-finals.
Italy maintained their 100 per cent record with a 3-2 victory over Japan in the last eight, having already defeated Brazil (3-1), Egypt (3-0) and Poland (3-1) in the group stages.
Poland will face United States in the other semi-final. Nikola Grbic's team have won three of their four matches and saw off Slovenia 3-1 in the quarter-finals, with their solitary loss coming at the hands of Italy.
USA are looking to make up for a disappointing effort at Tokyo 2020, where they failed to reach the knockout stages. They have a perfect record at Paris 2024 after dispatching Brazil 3-1 in the last eight.
France had to dig deep to pull off a reverse sweep against Germany, who went 2-0 up in the quarters but eventually lost in a tiebreak, with Earvin Ngapeth scoring 21 points for the hosts.
"We were ready for a tiebreak. We expected it. That's why we didn't panic after being down 2-0. We didn't even feel like we were being dominated," Ngapeth said.
"We were on every ball, we were patient, and we showed we are a group."
In the women's tournament, Tokyo 2020 finalists Brazil and United States will meet in the semi-finals, while Turkey and Italy will compete for a place in the final.
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