Castelo da Maia, Portugal, April 27, 2014. France shut out Sweden by 3:0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-20) to finish unbeaten on top of Pool E and to secure a ticket to the Final Round of the 2014 CEV U20 Volleyball European Championship - Men. Sweden ended up in the fourth place to conclude its participation in this campaign. Belgium disappointed the home crowd in Maia by knocking out Portugal. The final 3:0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-18) sent the Belgians to the 3rd Round of qualification and the Portuguese out of contention just short of joining them as the best third-place team.
Sweden vs. France 0:3 (21-25, 11-25, 20-25)
Coach Jocelyn Trillon’s team played in a relaxed way, without worries and conscientious of its superiority. Sweden took advantage of those facts to play equally without anxiety and playing point for point almost the entire first set, but that was not enough to prevent the victory of the French by 25-21. The second set did not have much history. Two aces from Stephen Boyer and an attack from Mederic Henry for 11-3 granted France the advantage it needed to walk on until the win by 25-11. In the third set, it became clear that the victory would not escape from the French. The attacks from Sweden died in their opponent’s blocks or landed outside the court to escape from the reach of France’s high-level defense. It was no surprise that France closed the set with a secure win – 25-20.
Jean Patry from France was the game’s best scorer with 16 points, while Viktor Lindberg was the best scorer for Sweden with 7 points.
Jocelyn Trillon, head coach of France: “We were not expecting it, but it was very good to win all the matches. I love Portugal and this tournament was indeed awesome. My congratulations to the spectators and to the organizers. Regarding the European Championship, we know that we will have to play at an even higher level if we want to fight for a good result, but we will work on that.”
Goran Persson, head coach of Sweden: “It did not go as we had hoped for, since we expected to put up a better fight against France. It has an excellent team which will give a lot to talk about in the final phase of the championship. This qualification tournament was excellent. The atmosphere is very good and the players always felt the support. And the Portuguese fans are amazing in supporting their team.”
Belgium vs. Portugal 3:0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-18)
The match started very balanced in front of the sold-out stands filled up with cheering fans for a third consecutive day. Trying to avoid Belgium’s block, Portugal gave speed to their attack action, where Dinis Alves appeared. Nevertheless the experienced Belgian team started to counteract with double and triple blocks against the hits from the left-handed spiker, being successful twice in a row for 16-12. An attack from Gilles Vandecaveye, a successful block on Alves and a failed serve from Portugal sealed Belgium’s win at 25-19. In the second set, with Vandecaveye serving, Belgium conquered a significant advantage - 9-1. Alves, with a winning spike and two aces, gave some new breathing space to Portugal at 6-11, but it was too late and Belgium kept cohesive until the final 25-13. In the third set, Joel Banks’s team went on to confirm their fair triumph. With an almost flawless match and against an opponent that was unable to react to the support of the restless spectators, Belgium booked without problems the ticket for the next round of qualification by winning the last set by 25-18.
Lou Kindt from Belgium with 13 points was the best scorer of the match, while Dinis Alves was the best scorer from the Portuguese team with 11 points.
Joel Banks, head coach of Belgium: “It was a match which we were obliged to win. Tactically we were very good and this turned things more easily. Portugal seemed a little tired from the match against France, but demonstrated that it is a great team. This tournament was quite good and had an amazing audience.”
Antonio Guerra, head coach of Portugal: “We encountered great difficulties, since Belgium has a very well-structured team, with players who decide well in the last touch. Today we did not have an exhibition like yesterday because our opponent did not allow it. We had to risk it all and, therefore, made more errors. A special thank you to the spectators. They were amazing and all the teams were amazed by them.”
Click here for more details, including match statistics.