If the decibels of the Zatika Arena in Porec were far from reaching records, the French team is arriving in a new venue and a new city for this main round of the Handball World Cup. In Varaždin (Croatia), close to the Hungarian border, the Blues will play as they would away. Hungarian, Macedonian and to a lesser extent Dutch supporters have set up their base camp there for a week.
The thermometer struggles to exceed 0°C in Varaždin but in its Arena, on the banks of the Drava, a tributary of the Danube, the atmosphere can quickly become stifling. On Sunday evening, there were almost 2,000 Hungarians whistling, screaming and singing in support of their selection against the Netherlands in a decisive match for first place in Group D of the Handball World Cup. A 36-32 victory traditionally celebrated with a national anthem sung in unison between players and supporters.
“This is our home,” says a Hungarian fan
This Tuesday evening (9 p.m.), it is in front of this wall of fans, particularly active in the stand behind one of the goals, that the Blues will try to ideally launch their main round. They have already heated their voices a lot but the Hungarian fans have resources. “We made the trip to push our team so that it reaches at least the quarter-finals,” said Benter, who came from Budapest. Cristian arrives from Szeged, he drove four hours to reach Varaždin. “This is our home, there have been thousands of us since the beginning of the week,” he says proudly. “We had a complicated first round but we are confident for the future. I would like our support to allow us to beat France, even if it seems difficult to me.”
Maté Lekai seems less pessimistic. “France, in all positions, has players who are among the best in the world,” breathes the center-half of the Hungarian selection, three-time finalist in the Champions League. “But sometimes we can have a good day, you never know what can happen. I don't know how many French people will make the trip, but I'm sure that we will only hear the Hungarian fans (laughs ).Since the start of the week, we really have the impression of being eight on the pitch, it's like being at home.”
Playing in front of the whistles, the Blues like that
Captain of the Netherlands, Luc Steins suffered many whistles on Sunday evening. “Three years ago, we beat them in the opening match at home in Hungary,” says the Paris Saint-Germain player. “It's pretty cool to play in such an atmosphere, there's a big atmosphere which isn't always in our favor but there are also a lot of Dutch people who support us. I'm proud of them and happy to see them see here.” Some French players, this Tuesday, will be happy to see some members of their family in the aisles. This is particularly the case of Nedim Remili and Ludovic Fabregas, players from Veszprém, in Hungary, who know the temperament of the country's fans.
-“It’s nearby so you could almost say that it’s a host nation,” underlines Remili, who will find his current club teammate Patrik Ligetvari “a very tough bon vivant who forgets that he’s 110 kilos of muscle,” as well as his ex-partners Adrian Sipos – “a great person but I hate him on the pitch” – and Zoran Ilic. The environment that awaits the Blues, the French center half intends to make good use of it. “It’s something that excites me a lot. I’m often better when it’s against us than for us,” “Ned” laughs. “In terms of atmosphere, we are entering the best of a World Cup, that galvanizes me.”
Same motivation for the captain. “The most important thing is to know what awaits us. Warm atmospheres enliven us,” says Ludovic Fabregas. “It's for these moments that we play handball. We are ready to take up the Magyar challenge in a heated atmosphere. The Hungarians will do everything to thwart us and in this type of match, there is this spirit of calm the ardor against us.” As a player, the current coach of the Blues Guillaume Gille (308 caps) has played a lot of matches under the pressure of an opposing public, like a world championship final in Zagreb against Croatia in 2009 (24-19). “When you know that you are playing against a nation, a people, a venue, it is a particular context in our sport. Decorum will be present, there will certainly also be an influence on the refereeing body. It is not simple neither for the team which 'receives' because it is necessary to live up to the excess of popular support which they benefit from. In these atmospheres, there is the idea of extinguishing the team in front and bringing them to reason. the whole of a room.”
Throwing projectiles against the Netherlands
And if the Blues succeed in this, in addition to winning the tough physical battle that awaits them, they will have to start again, against North Macedonia, on Saturday, when they could already be assured of being qualified for the quarter-finals. Because the Macedonian supporters, also very numerous, are not left out when it comes to raising their voices. Especially since they have felt wronged for several days by certain refereeing decisions against them, notably against the Netherlands last Friday (37-32 defeat). “We take three red cards, at least twelve penalties,” fumes Darko, from Skopje. “I'll let you calculate the playing time on the penalty kill. These referees were horrible.” Out of them, some supporters first sang chants against the International Handball Federation (“IHF Mafia”), before becoming more vehement by throwing projectiles on the field.
“It was hot,” recalls Luc Steins. “There were many of them in the stands and very aggressive. The match was stopped between five and ten times, it was a two-hour match, that's not possible… at the end they continued to throw things at the field which touched some of our players we returned to the locker room before the end of the ceremony (to designate the MVP).” Resentful, Macedonian fans heavily whistled the Dutch captain's message of fair play broadcast on the screens before the match, then the Dutch anthem on Sunday evening. “We will still be loud on Saturday,” assures Darko. “It might be tough because France are favorites to go to the final, their players are excellent. But we will be there.” The Blues have been warned, it is not freezing everywhere in Varaždin.
