23-Nov, start time: 18:05, end time: 19:09 - Attendance: 4,000

FRA	3	25	25	25	-	-	75
EGY	0	15	23	15	-	-	53

Match Description:

France cruise to their third win
World championship bronze medalists France strolled to their third victory of the 2003 Men's World Cup with a comfortable straight sets performance against a disappointing Egyptian side in the last game in Okayama on Sunday.

France, who were looking for another confidence building win after their excellent performance against Tunisia in their previous match, started superbly against a mistake-ridden Egyptian side, who have yet to win a game, with Stephane Antiga at his brilliant best as France strolled to a 25-15 first set win. The final play of the set saw Egyptian captain Hamdy Elsafy Awad spike wide, summing up Egypt's first set.

The second set was different however, with France finding it difficult to shake a committed Egyptian side in the early stages. The charismatic Laurent Capet did his utmost to lead France to safety in the first set with some powerful attacks from the wing while skipper and MIP Dominique Daquin was his usual dominant best on the block but Egypt, with Awad gaining more of a presence, wouldn't let go. It took a block from Capet to give France the break and Daquin finished off for the Tricolours with a spike.

Much to the approval of coach Philippe Blain, France found their rhythm again in the third set and were quickly out to a 16-8 lead on the back of some great blocking from Daquin. The likes of Philippe Barca-Cysique and Marc Schalk came into the game more with some pinpoint attacks and by this stage France were taking their foot off the pedal. At 23-15 Mathias Patin aced before Eldein Abdelnaeim Salah tipped out to wrap up France's third victory of the tournament.

Comments:

BLAIN, Philippe (FRA Head Coach)
The most important thing is not the result but the quality of our play. We did good blocking in the 1st and 3rd sets. We want to keep our spirit right for the remaining matches.

DOMINIQUE, Daquin (FRA Captain)
On the whole we are satisfied with the match. However, there are many things we have to learn from this match. We hope to make the most use of this experience of this match.

VESELIN, Vukovic (EGY Head Coach)
There is a difference in tactics and technique between France and us. We couldn't keep good concentration except for the 2nd set. We lack an international experience, so it will be a tough round in Okayama because we have to compete with the three best European teams here.

AWAD, Hamdy Elsafy (EGY Captain)
We didn't play well, while France played with good defense and offense. It cannot be helped to have lost with a result of 3-0.

Official Result:

Match statistics (P-2) - PDF