Volleyball. World Cup: The French women want to continue making history

Back in the competition after a 51-year absence, the Blues want to make up for lost time and quickly climb the steps that separate them from the highest international level.

He's not far off, after a summer as the first under new coach Cesar Hernandez, who acted as a formidable accelerator, with a solid ninth-place finish in the World League followed by this rollercoaster. A first quarter-final that Héléna Cazaute hopes to confirm with a place in the last four. "We're making history, but we want to go for even more, to write something even more beautiful," declared the captain.

There are "five days left" of competition for the French women, until the final on Sunday, Hernandez even dares, who "approaches each competition with the objective of playing the last match."

The Spaniard is aware, however, that the last few hundred meters towards the summits are often the most arduous: "We climb Everest, and the higher we climb, the more difficult it becomes, the scarcer the oxygen becomes and the more suffering there is."

After China, then the world's fourth-ranked nation , the ascent goes through Brazil, ranked second (France is 13th), which climbed to the last step of the podium at the Olympic Games last summer and is the reigning vice-world champion. And determined to win its first world title to repair an incongruity.

But after taking their revenge on the Chinese, who swept them aside at the 2024 Olympics (3-0), the Blues want another one against the Auriverde, whom they pushed to their limits and to the tie-break (2-3) twice this summer. The first in the Nations League, the second in this same World Cup, in group stage, after leading two sets to zero.

But between Chiang Mai (north), the venue for this first Thai meeting, and the upcoming quarter-final in Bangkok, they emerged from the jungle, stronger after having finally defeated one of the best nations in the world.

"We have a better chance of competing against Brazil because we now have the experience of winning against a big team," said Hernandez, who is capitalizing on the foundations laid by his predecessor, the Belgian Emile Rousseaux, who took the French team from the second or even third division of the world to the first.

The Spanish coach, who has brought confidence and consistency to the French, calls on them to "be courageous and follow the game plan." This will include "better ball control in defense" and the Brazilian Rosamaria, who "changed the match to 0-2" in the group stage.

"We can't relax if we're leading because Brazil will put enormous pressure on us," Hernandez also warned. Les Bleues, led by Cazaute and Iman Ndiaye in attack and Juliette Gelin in defense, are under no pressure before the match, according to their captain. "It's just a bonus for us. We're just enjoying the moment and that's how we've been doing since the beginning," Cazaute said. He and his teammates intend to push the game to a close as much as possible.