The match between Japan and Italy could have ended in a huge sensation. Such would have been the elimination of the Italians in the quarter-finals of the games. The world champions fought for promotion to the medal zone with theoretically the weakest team remaining in Paris after the first three matches.
Well, theoretically. The Japanese, who advanced to the top eight after five-set losses to the USA and Germany and a 3:1 win against the Argentines, treated the match with Italy as a great chance. And they are extremely strong in such key moments. And the Italians were convinced of that.
The Japanese lost and their coach leaves the team in tears
In the first two sets, the Japanese proved to be better. They won the first one quite confidently, to 20, but they took the second one from the Italians, although their rivals were leading even 23:22. It ended 23:25 for the Asian team. It seemed that they would be able to close this match in three sets. The Japanese already had three match points, but they did not use any of them. The Italians won 27:25 and it was already 1:2 in sets.
Competitors Ferdinando de Giorgi got going and had the fourth set under control for a long time. Towards the end, the Japanese came into their own and were leading by one point, but again they failed to take advantage of their own opportunity. It ended 26:24 for the Italians. In the tie-break, coach Phillippe Blain's team was once again close to deciding everything in their favor – they were the first to gain a match point, but they did not convert it into a decisive point for victory. A moment later, the Italians secured a match point and it was they who won – in the fifth set 17:15, and in the whole match 3:2.
For the Japanese, it's a disappointing defeat. To have so many chances to win and ultimately waste them all? It must hurt, especially since the coach is saying goodbye to the team with such a match. And of course it's a shame that after the match Philippe Blain burst into tears, like his volleyball players. The whole story and the fact that the Japanese were able to compete at such a level with the world champions, shows the true value of his work in Asia.
Blain explains the phenomenon of volleyball in Japan. He compared what is happening there to Poland
The end of June this year, Sport Arena in Łódź. It was a day off in the Nations League finals, the Olympic season of the national team was entering a crucial phase. Philippe Blain invited me to the Japanese training before the semi-final against Slovenia. After the training we were supposed to talk, but for now I watched his work and the intensity with which the Japanese train.
There came a game of two sixes and suddenly Yuji Nishida hit the ball with great force. He hit the block, but the ball went through him and went far out of bounds. But beyond it something else was flying in the air. Some white stripe, but it was hard to see what it was. Blain grabbed his head, ran to the net, clung to it and still couldn't believe it. The Japanese attacker had so impressively removed the elastic bandage from Ran Takahashi's fingers, which he picked up from the pitch in surprise a moment later. Nishida's hit was so strong that the bandage somehow came off his hand.
Blaine showed that sometimes even he doesn't expect what his players are capable of. That was the case here. After the training session, he kept his word and came to talk. And he explained the phenomenon of the team, which a few days later won the silver medal of the Nations League, the second at a world event in the 21st century. The first, bronze, was also won with Blaine at the controls, a year earlier.
Jakub Balcerski: How much has changed in your coaching philosophy over the last three years since you led the Japanese?
Philippe Blaine: It's not entirely that I've changed. Since I'm a coach, my job is to adapt to a new place, to try to understand what's needed there. To take a team from the level it's at to the very top, you have to find mental, tactical or technical aspects that you can improve. That's why I love my job. First, I should understand the people I work with, and only then try to make progress with them.
That's how I worked from the beginning in Japan. Of course, my problem at the beginning was the fact that it's hard to come there and immediately feel comfortable in a foreign culture, with their traditions, or a completely foreign language. It wasn't easy. But it turned out to be a great adventure and something in which I could find an outlet for my passion.
Have they become more European or have you become more Asian?
– For this to work, you need the perfect combination. You have to take into account first and foremost what they need and what they are capable of doing. Do you want the Japanese to play like the French or the Poles? No, they have to play in the Japanese style. I just bring my knowledge and try to adapt it to their needs.
Did anything surprise you in Japan?
– No, especially since I didn't have any great expectations at the very beginning. I knew the Japanese as well as I had managed to get to know them by playing against them. I had a lot of questions in my head, but I didn't know what the problem was within the team. And why they hadn't been very successful so far. Some ideas were emerging. I knew we needed a good setter and libero. That was the skeleton. Then I had to realize where we had the most potential, find talents and develop them accordingly. We also found a new way of working together – because until then both they and I were used to something different.
Did you understand something you couldn't understand before?
– I realized why they couldn't work out the continuity of the band. They were plagued by injuriesthe work program was not adapted to the highest level and the way they trained we also had to change. There were also problems completely outside of volleyball, for example organizational, so a lot changed in the functioning of the staff.
Playing against the Japanese at the home games in Paris, is something special for you?
– Because of the family, yes. It's easy to join, they can watch the matches. But the Olympics are such a difficult competition that you have to work very hard to prepare for the matches. In reality, you don't have time to enjoy them. You can be happy that you're there, because you see that the whole world of sport is there. But since you're inside, it doesn't really make sense whether you play in London, Rio, Tokyo or Paris.
You worked in Poland, with the national team as an assistant to Stephane Antiga from 2014 to 2016. Now there is a lot of talk about it being the biggest volleyball country in the world, that nowhere else can you experience what you have here. After your experiences, do you agree with that?
– When I was in Poland, the cooperation program between the Ministry of Sport and the Polish association was starting. And if you look at how many players came out of this cooperation and are now available to play in the national team, you have to consider it a great success. This move brought progress. And so, now I believe that Poland has the most high-level volleyball players, and at the same time, that it is here that they can be developed the best.
In 2014, when you won the World Championship, did you think it was the beginning of the road to what is happening here now?
– It looked a bit like my path with the Japanese. We also wanted to write a completely new story here, starting with the home World Championships. The last gold medal of the Poles was in 1974. It was something that could be opened, signed and started to be built. And if you manage to win more medals, then you create a certain trend. In Poland it has been going on for a very long time, in Japan we are trying to create something similar. Team sports and big events are very important here, so when successes come during them, a lot of sponsors appear, and with them new opportunities. It is very important.
It was the same in Poland. In 2014, we started with a match at the stadium, where 63,000 spectators watched the volleyball. It's clear that in such a situation, a lot will change, especially when you achieve great success at the same event. What we see today is the result of the work of many people within the environment, but also the management of this project by new people, adding freshness. This is an example of what a lot of hard work can lead to in a country that wants to develop volleyball.
But I guess a lot has changed in Japan too, because the players are big stars both in and outside the country? The popularity has increased, right?
– It's true. 99 percent of the audience in the stands are women. The number of people supporting us is often impressive. We cope with popularity and enjoy it. After all, if the day came when these fans were gone, we would be very sad. We have a lot of media obligations, we spend a lot of time to the fansbut in the circumstances we experience, we are more likely to experience it as pleasure.
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Blaine's farewell to the Japanese is quite bitter, considering the chances they had against the Italians. But the Frenchman can smile at what he has done. He has created another volleyball powerhouse. Time will tell if Japan will be able to use the potential, but the fact that they have it is already a lot.
It may happen that the Japanese will not assemble a similar line-up – with stars like Yuji Nishida, Ran Takahashi or Yuki Ishikawa – and will not be able to play it at such a level. But intuition tells us that this is just the beginning. And the foundations that Blain has built only encourage us not to stop.