Top scorer for Les Bleues (5 goals) Monday, during France’s 3rd and final group match against Portugal (28-16), Alicia Toublanc launched her Euro, after being kept away during the first two matches . Competing for the right winger position with Messina Lucie Granier and her ex-BBH teammate Pauline Coatanéa, the 2023 world champion has seen others. “We have already competed with three wingers for two places in 2022. We are trying to pull ourselves up, to be in cooperation more than in competition. “We all want the same thing anyway,” says the 28-year-old, who still has a thirst for gold.
“Changing country and club involves a complete change of life. It’s very enriching in terms of daily life, culture, handball…”
For the native of Plouagat (22), this international break is also an opportunity to reconnect with France, which she left last summer. And to reunite with several former Brest partners (Pauline Coatanéa, therefore, but also Pauletta Foppa and Coralie Lassource). “It’s always nice to see them again and get news. They tell me a little about the new operation (of the BBH), with everything that changed in the offseason. It’s nice.” Because after ten seasons spent at the tip of Brittany, and for not having managed to agree on the conditions of an extension with the Finistère club, Toublanc ended up taking the management of Romania, and of Valcea.
A new “very exotic” context: “We love it! »
If her departure from Brest was not without a certain bitterness, she took advantage of her Olympic summer, which she “lived like a waking dream”, to definitively turn the page. Today, “everything is fine,” she assures. “Changing country and club involves a complete change of life. It’s very enriching in terms of daily life, culture, handball…”. Having left accompanied by her boyfriend, which “allows us to have some bearings and to stabilize more quickly”, she also found Julie Foggea, the former BBH goalkeeper. “It gave me extra support. Afterwards, there are a lot of foreigners, eleven I think. This creates a very multicultural context which facilitates adaptation.”
On a daily basis, Toublanc enjoys his new life and a “rather calm” town, a size located between Quimper and Brest. “It’s very natural around, with super beautiful landscapes. It’s close to the mountains, the context is truly magnificent. We took a few walks, we even saw brown bears in the wild. It’s all very exotic from our point of view, and we love it. We also went to the very pretty town of Brasov, in the mountains, where we had a few days of snow. That’s what I remember so far: the beauty and novelty of the environment.”
“A little frustrated”, Toublanc would like to “play a little more”
Sportingly, with three matches lost in the championship, the situation of Valcea, 5th in a provisional ranking dominated by CSM Bucharest, is more contrasted. “We would have liked to do better at the start of the season,” the Costarmorican woman does not hide. “But what is positive is that we qualified for the main round of the EHF (2nd European Cup after the Champions League), after beating Debrecen, a very good team.”
On a personal level, same observation. “I’m in the rotation with (Swede) Hagman but it’s true that I would like to play a little more. We have the same role, we share the responsibility for penalties, which is cool, but I play a little less. This is perhaps the slightly frustrating side of this start to the season. But that doesn’t mean it will be the same thing after the Euro. I remain positive,” explains the woman who also had the opportunity to meet Pablo Morel, her former coach in Brest.
In this context, maintaining the confidence of Sébastien Gardillou, the new coach of the France team, is a good thing to do. “You never know what can happen after a change of coach… It’s clear that it’s nice to still be considered”, concludes the player, while France will face its host country, this Wednesday.
Morocco
