Paris 2024 Olympic Games: In a preparation match against Montenegro, the French water polo team delights the Montpellier public

Les Bleus, en bonnets blancs, ont régalé le public de Montpellier. Midi Libre – LF

Pour le plus grand plaisir d’un millier de spectateurs de la piscine olympique, les Bleus ont fait étape à Montpellier avant de retrouver le Monténégro, lundi à Sète (20h30), pour la revanche.

This Saturday evening, a great excitement took over the Olympic swimming pool in Montpellier. 27 days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the pool, one of the most beautiful and functional in the country, welcomed the French team.

A good thousand spectators gathered in the stands to admire Blues star Thomas Vernoux and his partners, fourth in the last world championships. The famous local table tennis players Félix and Alexis Lebrun but also the Montpellier Handball goalkeeper Charles Bolzinger were part of the lot.

A beautiful atmosphere and suspense

After the solemn anthem of Montenegro, the evening's opponent, the Marseillaise was performed at the top of their lungs by an enthusiastic family audience, all happy to take part in the celebration.

For the team of Alexandre Bouet, a child from Montpellier and first scorer of the evening, this meeting launched a series of matches which would allow him to make tactical adjustments and to feel in real conditions the support of the French people from which it will benefit in Paris, at the end of the month. "The preparation was organized in such a way that we play our preparation matches in France in front of our public to anticipate this good pressure that we will have at the Games", confirmed the Montpellier named captain for the occasion.

The men of coach Florian Bruzzo were not disappointed. Each goal scored ignited the stands and made the blue-white-red flags wave. In exchange, France and Montenegro of Montpellier goalkeeper Lazar Andric offered suspense to the assistance.

So much so that the two teams concluded regulation time with a parity score (14-14) and Montenegro ended up winning in the penalty shootout. But the result was anecdotal as the evening was successful for the Blues and their Montpellier supporters.