the French team got its bearings well against Qatar

The score is clear, the manner a little less convincing. The French men's handball team successfully entered the World Cup co-organized by Croatia, Denmark and Norway by winning, Tuesday, January 14, 37 to 19 against a modest Qatari selection.

On the floor of the 3,700-seat Zatica Sports Center in Porec (in Istria, west of Croatia), the Blues, led by their new captain Ludovic Fabregas, did not let themselves be distracted by the false rhythm proposed by Qatar, even if at times they lacked efficiency in front of the opposing goal, sometimes finding the posts or often stumbling on the saves of goalkeeper of Bosnian origin Anadin Suljaković.

In the opposite goal, Rémi Desbonnet was also there on this first evening of competition, author of numerous saves and long-distance passes to serve his unmarked teammates. The Montpellier native, who played more than 45 minutes before being replaced by Samir Bellahcene, was elected man of the match. “We were getting our bearings, we hardly conceded any goals in the last ten minutes, that’s it, we’re off to a good start,” welcomed the Blues goalkeeper.

Five months after their bitter defeat in the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament after extra time against Germany, the French took the lead from the first minutes of the game and kept it, maintaining a comfortable lead over their opponents, yet 2024 Asian champions.

“A good squad review”

« It was a good first match”agreed coach Guillaume Gille, who took advantage of this start to the tournament against a messy opponent, who lost a lot of balls, to give playing time to the sixteen boys selected for this first meeting of the world championship. Only Elohim Prandi, back in the French team after a shoulder injury, and goalkeeper Charles Bolzinger were unable to contribute to the victory of the Blues

“It’s a good squad review, but we will have things to say. There were opportunities that we misused, we left things out of the way in the heart of the second half.”nuanced the coach, who was however able to count on the effectiveness of Thibaud Briet in the left-back position, often occupied by the Parisian Prandi. The Nantes player, aggressive in defense and top French scorer of the evening, finished the match with a flattering record of 7 goals on 9 shots.

The 2.05 meter player, who did not participate in the coronation of the French team at Euro 2024, like his teammate in Nantes Aymeric Minne, was delighted, individually, to be “well integrated into attacking movements”and insisted on the first objective achieved by the group: “We wanted to find benchmarks, gain strength, that’s what we did in this match. »

In this 32-team World Cup, the final of which is not scheduled until February 2 in Oslo, Norway, the second match of the preliminary round for the Blues will take place Thursday, January 16 against another team from the Persian Gulf, Kuwait, still in Porec. If they win, the Blues, six-time world champions in search of a new crown since 2017, would already validate their qualification for the main round of the world championship. In this case, the confrontation with Austria (another team in Group C) could allow this rejuvenated French team to continue its run-in.