Guillaume Gille, the French coach, decided to call on Valentin Kieffer as reinforcements, to support Rémi Desbonnet and Charles Bolzinger, the two goalkeepers present in Croatia since the start of the World Cup. The regulations allow five changes. At 25, Valentin Kieffer was summoned for the first time during the recovery course after the Paris Olympics, last November at the Maison du hand in Créteil (Val-de-Marne). He plays in Chambéry and is the son of Jean-Luc Kieffer, the head of the selection goalkeepers.