Well Hello There Mr. Earvin Ngapeth!
The once “bad boy” of French volleyball who was suspended late last year after an altercation with Coach Blaine at the 2010 World Championship is officially on France’s roster for the 2011 European Championship.
We can safely say that he has finally mended fences with the coach and the French Federation.
Earvin is a very talented outside hitter. His presence was badly missed at the recently concluded 2011 World League wherein the French squad was having a difficult time winning against Italy, Korea and Cuba. Luckily, the team managed to win some key matches in front of their fans which gave them a breather to qualify for next year’s edition without going through the 2012 World League Qualification Round.
In case you didn’t know, Portugal and Puerto Rico finished in the bottom 2 of the 2011 World League and will compete at 2 separate Qualification Rounds later this year.
Back to Earvin, we’re glad to hear he’s back and we hope he drops his ego there won’t be any conflict moving forward.
He has a lot of potentials to become one of the world’s best players and can resurrect France’s glorious days in the volleyball world.
Bienvenue!
French Roster for the 2011 ECH:
Setters :Pierre Pujol, Benjamin Toniutti
Liberos : Jenia Grebennikov, Jean-François Exiga
Middle Blockers : Gérald Hardy-Dessources, Romain Vadeleux, José Trèfle, Franck Lafitte
Outside Hitters : Julien Lyneel, Samuele Tuia, Nicolas Maréchal, Guillaume Samica, Earvin Ngapeth, Kevin Tillie
Opposites : Antonin Rouzier, Marien Moreau
Thoughts?
(images: FIVB)