Like Nicolas Batum who has already announced that he is making his last lap with the Blues, Nando De Colo is part of the furniture in the French team. The veteran Asvel fullback has had a difficult season, between repeated injuries and disappointing collective results, but Nando De Colo arrives with the desire to end his international career on an exclamation point. Even more so in his native region in Lille during the group stage.
Nando, you have already experienced three Olympiads, how are you approaching this fourth, which will be your last before retirement?
It's a separate competition, even more so if it's at home. I think we don't yet realize the enthusiasm that there will be because we are a little removed from everything that is happening. We will also be a little in Lille but we will have our public behind us. It’s going to be a unique experience. We will do our best to go as far as possible. It starts tomorrow with the prep in Rouen.
With your experience, you who have been in Blue since 2008, do you believe that this is the strongest team you have known?
The strongest, we'll see. Only the final result will be able to tell. The most complete surely, and that's why the staff set up this selection system. There's a lot of hesitation, I think they're trying to see which players can best complement the core of this team. We will see. We have qualities, there is no doubt about that. Even a little too much… Maybe that's what we'll have to manage. I have no doubt that we will do our best not to repeat what happened last summer.
We know that the staff organized individual interviews with each player, but, as a veteran, do you also participate at your level in the integration of new players?
It's still a bit too early. With the selection system, we don't yet know who will be able to be part of the adventure. These are things that we will have to say. We won't have the classic context of the Olympics. A bit like in Tokyo where we were in the middle of Covid. There, we will be in Lille, on our side. It will look more like a European championship or a World Cup than an Olympic Games. But there will be all the popular enthusiasm so we will have to be careful not to spread ourselves too thin.
“We want to move the ball more, not necessarily on predefined systems but on reading the game”
We talk a lot about the interior sector, aren't the exterior lines, therefore, the weak point of the French squad?
To say that this is a weak point is a bit strong. As there is Victor [Wembanyama] that happens, we tend to focus the game more on the internal sector and that is normal. He will take up space on the field, but also off it. The proof is that you are all here today. But it is a collective that must be created. We have the ability outside to create danger. We have players who are very talented. The most important thing will be to find this alternation, even if we know that the game will necessarily be a little more focused on the interior.
What will change in the Blues' game this summer, after last year's failure?
These are details, but they are a bit different from what we used to do. We are still in this defensive aggressiveness that we want to find again. In attack, we want to move the ball much more, not necessarily on predefined systems but on reading the game.
What lessons did you learn from last summer?
We are all learning from what has happened in recent years. We had very good communication for the 2019 and 2021 campaigns, but we had lost that a little in recent years. It is something that must be rediscovered in order to move forward in the best possible way.
You have individually had a rather complicated season, with injuries and without a trophy, in what state of mind do you arrive in Blue?
We have to try to make the switch. That's the most important thing. We're trying to leave the season that just ended behind us. We find ourselves in a new environment, with a new team and a new staff. We have to focus on what's happening, to move forward.
Comments collected at INSEP
