The French team celebrates the speedy victory over Belgium
Nancy, France, July 1, 2016 - France mastered a straight-set 3-0 (25-19, 28-26, 25-20) victory over Belgium at the FIVB Volleyball World League 2016 Group 1 tournament in Nancy.
Dominique Maeyens, coach of Belgium: "We only started to put a little pressure on the French team during the second set, which does not make me happy. I think we did not play very well today, it clearly was not our best game. Maybe it is the tiredness starting to kick in, but anyway it was not very good. I really hope we will manage to take some kind of revenge tomorrow by playing well against Brazil. Obviously they are the favourites, but what matters the most to me is not so much the result as the performance we produce."
Earvin Ngapeth, outside spiker of France: "I feel like it is starting to work, I have been struggling to get back in shape after the championship for a month or so now, and today I felt good, I felt better. Tonight has been my first "fully accomplished" game of the summer, so I am very happy, and we are almost in the Final Six now. Now we only need one more victory to qualify. I think we have to catch the opportunity tomorrow against Poland. The Poles have had a twisted World League since they're hosting the finals, so they are not really on top of their game. They are working really hard on physical training. So yes, I think it would be easier to qualify tomorrow instead of Sunday."