After a long journey between Israel and Bulgaria, it’s a bit of a return home: to compete in the semi-finals of Euro-2023, the French volleyball players reached Italy on Tuesday, where most of them played in clubs.
If Rome, where the Final Four will take place on Thursday and Saturday, is not strictly speaking a major city of “pallavollo” (volleyball in Italian), the Italian championship is a monument of the European landscape.
Twelve of the 14 French people currently participating in Euro-2023 under the direction of an Italian coach, Andrea Giani, legend in his country, have played at least one season in the SuperLega.
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“It’s the most homogeneous league, with the highest level, even for teams ranked 8th or 9th, all the matches are really very difficult,” summarizes the France team’s passer, Antoine Brizard.
“But we’re not going to lie to each other, we’re also going to look for money. It is the championship which best combines the quality of life, the distance from France, the level of play and salaries,” continues the man who, after three seasons in Poland and one in Russia, has been defending the colors since 2021. from Perugia.
In Italy, salaries can reach well over double what an international earns in the French League A.
“It remains the Holy Grail when you start. There are plenty of young people who have dreamed of playing in Italy since they were little,” notes Brizard.
“It’s a flagship championship, there is a huge volleyball culture, it’s a bit sacred in a classic volleyball course,” adds Timothée Carle.
The receiver-attacker spent a season (2019-20) in Italy, “that of Covid”, at Vibo Valentia, before joining Berlin and a less competitive Championship.
“After Covid, there was uncertainty about the stability of Italian clubs and the championship. At that time, Berlin seemed the best choice,” he explains.
Italian volleyball clubs, impacted by the drop in ticket revenue due to the pandemic, are still struggling to digest this period and have had to review their lifestyle.
At the same time, while Russia, since the war in Ukraine, has lost its appeal, Poland and Turkey have become championships that count.
French volleyball star Earvin Ngapeth will join the Turkish championship and the Ankara club after having spent most of his career since 2011 in Italy, particularly in Modena.
“For me,” explains the man who was voted best player at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, “Italy is the country of volleyball. In all teams, even abroad, Italian is spoken. They are the strongest tactically. Italy allowed me to quickly reach a very, very high level.”
But if Italy, which France could face in the semi-final on Thursday, is the national reference selection of the moment after its European (2021) and global (2022) coronations, its clubs are suffering in the face of competition from Poland, where Volleyball is the most popular team sport after football.
The last three editions of the Champions League have been won by the Polish club Zaksa Kedzierzyn-Kozle.
In May 2023, it beat another Polish club, Jastrzebski Wegiel, for the first all-Polish final in history.
Six of the 14 Blues in Euro-2023 will play next season in the Polish PlusLiga, including their captain Benjamin Toniutti, yet the most “Italian” of them.
“Italy is a magnificent championship, but it is not a necessary step, I found a balance of life and sport in Poland,” assures the smuggler (since 2021) of Jastrzebski Wegiel.