Innsbruck, Austria, September 10, 2011. Although Finland had started the warm up 20 minutes before the opponents from France, still the Finns needed the same time to find their rhythm in the opening game of Pool C. France served with great consistency and power to easily clip the opening set (25-14).
Finland finally got momentum in set 2 and fought back bravely loudly supported by quite many fans that had come down from “Suomi” to attend the matches of their heroes at the “OIympiaworld” in Innsbruck. Their setter Mikko Esko showed good command of the game and a massive haul of 8 blocks helped the guys around head coach Daniel Castellani draw level in the set count.
With the provisional 1:1 on the scoreboard, the teams practically re-started the match in set 3 and the game was really close and tight. The final score was sealed by France only well beyond the ordinary finish line of 25 points (31-29, 28-26); the “Bleus” got up 5:1 in set 4 but Finland did not surrender that quickly. The Finns got back their great blocks to turn the score around (10:12); France missed two match balls at 24:22, Finland got the opportunity to go for the tie-break but it did not use it.
Antonin Rouzier top scored for France with 20 points well supported by Earvin Ngapeth (18), while Antti Siltala totaled 16 for Finland.
France’s head coach Philippe Blain commented: “I’m happy that we’ve won the first match. Both teams started very nervously. This win can be very important for us. In the next matches we have to use our chances to finish it off earlier”.
Daniel Castellani stated: “The start was very tough for us; France didn’t give us a chance to find our way in the match, because they served and attacked very well. I’m not satisfied with my team’s performance. We need to pass and serve better to claim the next matches”.
France’s captain Pierre Pujol: “This night I will sleep for more than four hours. We were really nervous and it took us some time to play constantly, even after a good start. In the fourth set we failed to profit from the early lead and let Finland come back”.
Finland’s top scorer Antti Siltala: “In the end it was very close and we also could have won the last two sets. Still we played at a high level after a poor first set. That makes me confident for the upcoming matches”.