The feat is still within reach… Deprived of the final after their cruel defeat on penalties against Croatia (17-16), the water polo Blues will play for bronze on Saturday morning (9:30 a.m. in France) against the ‘Spain. With their sights set on the first world medal in their history.
Whatever happens, Florian Bruzzo’s players, who finished 6th in Fukuoka last year, have already achieved their best run in the World Championships. But they don’t want to have any regrets when saying goodbye to the Aspire Dome in Doha (Qat) where they have thrilled their supporters since the start of the competition.
“We missed two or three things in the half, we lost our captain (Crousillat for three yellow cards) quite early, we were tense in the first half and that prevented us from making the right choices in defense,” confides the coach. But it’s not much. It’s quite simple, you just have to keep working. »
Friday morning, the Tricolores recovered physically and mentally before switching to the preparation session for the match in the afternoon. “It’s quite easy to re-mobilize when you have a goal behind it,” he continues. I don’t know if I found the right words, but they were obvious. I told them that we had played well, that we shouldn’t throw everything in the trash and that we had to go and get that podium. You see, it’s not as complicated as speech…”
Even though he has been in office for eleven and a half years, the former player from Noisy-le-Sec (93) is discovering the summit of an international competition. “I’m also learning,” he smiles. I said it would be interesting to play medal matches, to experience all the emotions and demands that go with it. There we go, we’re all moving forward together. »
“Don’t wonder what will happen if we win a medal or if we lose”
Against Spain, who beat them in the quarter-finals of last year’s World Cup and more recently at the European Championship, the French know what to expect. “They are the reigning European champions, we know them and they know us,” summarizes the coach. It will be a different match from Croatia (which will face Italy in the final), more on the horizontal dimension and taking up space than on the duels. It’s going to be another great opposition…”
Florian Bruzzo hopes that his players will think about the game. Not about the stakes. “We managed to focus on sporting performance against the Croats and it was pretty good. We have to be able to do the same, he analyzes. As much as possible, emotions should be focused on what we have to do in the water instead of wondering what will happen if we win a medal or if we lose. The risk is to think about it too much. It must be a driving force without being too heavy a burden to carry. »
#Doha2024 | ???????????? Thomas Vernoux’s exceptional goal which gives the Blues victory against the Hungarian ogre in the quarter-finals of the World Cup (10-11): how far will they go? pic.twitter.com/FaI9F17b7C
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) February 13, 2024
Whatever the outcome of their Qatari epic, captain Ugo Crousillat, the nugget Thomas Vernoux and their band of “Chasseurs” (in reference to the song by Michel Delpech which resonates in their locker room) will have climbed yet another step in their quest of an Olympic podium next summer. We no longer look at France, Olympic champion in… 1924, in the same way. “It would be a lie to say the opposite,” says Florian Bruzzo. But I don’t want to make this speech too loud. The tournament is not over yet…”
