Martin Lange, edited by Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: Tom Weller / DPA / dpa Picture-Alliance via AFP
Ten years without a continental title, an incongruity that the Blues will want to correct this Sunday afternoon (kick-off 5:45 p.m.). After qualifying at the end of the suspense against Sweden, the French handball players are playing in the Euro 2024 final against Denmark in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany. The men of coach Guillaume Gille will simply find their best enemy, the reigning world champion, who deprived them of a new world crown last year.
“It’s going to be a very big match,” agrees Nikola Karabatic
It is therefore a dream poster, which even the captain Nikola Karabatic delights in. “It’s becoming a great classic. Denmark demonstrated its qualities throughout the tournament,” points out the leader of the French team, conceding that before the Euro, the Danes “were the big favorites. They are world champions As a title, they have incredible players… We expected them to be at their level, and they were. They are very, very strong.”
“It’s going to be a very big match, very difficult. I hope we will be at our best level”, agrees the almost 40-year-old handball player, an international tricolor since 2002. The Blues will also have to be more consistent than Friday, against Sweden, to avoid new fears and a new miracle. The hero of this semi-final, Elohim Prandi, will be there, as will the oldest Nikola Karabatic who is aiming for an 11th title in the tricolor jersey.
“I play with a different energy”: the secrets of Nikola Karabatic
The captain of the French team Nikola Karabatic is playing in a new final with the Blues. He talks about his “happiness” in donning the tricolor tunic, for his last year in the selection, and details the state of mind with which he deals with his teammates.
“Since I announced that it was my last season, I have been playing with a different energy. I am on the pitch, and it is a joy. To be there, with the France team, it is my dream since I was little. I know that this dream will soon end, and basically, it’s ‘You don’t have much time left. Have as much fun as possible on the pitch, the players with whom you play, your friends, soon you will no longer be with them, so enjoy it, give it your all and live the match without thinking about what happens next. What happens after, victory or no victory, medal or no medal, does not begin to make films in your head, or in the present moment’. I’m pretty good at doing it, and I find it’s a great feeling. I would have liked to have had this wisdom a little earlier in my career.”