Turkey-France
France made a solid start into the first period (8-5). However, the Turkish girls managed to wake up on time and get into the match shortening the distance and catching their rivals at 13-13. After that, it was all about Turkey who concluded the first period 25-22.
In the second set, France came up strongly in the beginning, but it was the Turkish squad who went into the first technical time-out with a two-point lead. There was nothing to separate the two teams at that moment of the game before France finally found a way to turn the tables (16-14). It was already too late for Turkey to fight back, and France never looked back until 25-18.
However, the title holders showed a great reaction. In the third and fourth set, Turkey set the pace with a powerful offensive game and some brilliant defense actions. Even though France tried their best, especially in the beginning of the fourth set, it was not good enough to outfox the reigning champions.
Arelya Karasoy, Turkey: “We are looking up to the generation that won the European title. I think we played well, but we are very ambitions, and we want more. In our next match we are playing with Russia and we were thinking about that game already today”.
Catma Sahin, Turkey Head Coach: “We played against France in a friendly match and won 3:0. But in the competition it is different. I am satisfied with the victory, but not that much with our game. We can do a lot better”.
Nina Stojiljkovic, France: “We knew that Turkey were an aggressive team, but I think we entered the match in a good rhythm and managed to control them. Our problem is to maintain the high level of play over a long period of time. That is something we must work on”.
Serge Marouteau, France Head Coach: “We are having problems in defense and in ball control. Unfortunately, we gave Turkey some crucial points and that were the key moments in today’s match”.
To read more news from this competition click on Youth European Championship 2013 F.
