Riffa, Bahrain, August 25, 2017 - Russia overcame the tough challenge of France in the tie-break on Friday, to book their semi-finals slot in the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship at Isa City Sports Hall.
Russia coach Andrey Nozdrin: This was the most difficult and the most important match in this tournament. I really have no emotions or words for now, but I can say that I am really proud of my players. It was a good game and a good experience for each one of them.
Russia captain Konstantin Abaev: France is a very good team. I think we really had the willpower to win. Before the fifth set, the coach reminded us to just show our passion and emotion on court. We had a lot of problems at the beginning. We were not really playing so brilliantly but France made a lot of mistakes too. Later, we gave pressure in service and blocks which helped us win.
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France coach Belmadi Slimane: Our biggest problem in this match was the blocking. The Russians teamed up on block. If we were able to find a solution against this, we could have had a better chance to win.
France captain Lucas Soldner: We made so many mistakes in playing against the Russian team. We were not able to make good decisions in crucial moments of the match. We played against a very good team, I want to look at this loss as an opportunity to learn.