Arrived ten days ago in Ljubljana with the ambition of transforming the European silver of the last five editions into gold, the French basketball players lost a mere 67 to 63 against Belgium in the semi-finals of the Euro -2023, Saturday evening. The Belgians will face Spain on Sunday for the title.
The French will try to win the bronze medal
Just over twelve months from the 2024 Olympic Games played at home in Lille (1st round) and Paris-Bercy (from the quarterfinals), the French women are falling back in the European hierarchy and will have to analyze this setback, while the Federation had makes this Euro the main objective on the road to the Olympics.
Late Sunday afternoon (5:00 p.m.), the French women will try to cheer themselves up by winning the bronze medal against Hungary, which would be the eighth consecutive podium on the European scene, an unprecedented series since the Hegemonic USSR from 1950 to 1991 (22 finals in a row, including 21 coronations) and Czechoslovakia in the 1950s and 1966, which climbed the European podium nine times in a row.
“You can’t blame anyone, everyone gave 100%”
Saturday in the semi-finals, the French first suffered the Belgian steamroller. They have especially suffered the law in the racket of Emma Meesseman, winner of the last three Euroleagues and one of the best if not the best European player currently. The Belgian interior scored 24 points, including 18 in the first twenty minutes. Led by 17 points in the middle of the second quarter, Les Bleues gradually returned to the game, carried by Sandrine Gruda (17 points).
They missed two possessions in the last 30 seconds when the score was 65-63, and ended up giving up four points (67-63). “It’s disappointing because in the end we lose. This team showed heart. We can’t blame anyone, everyone gave 100% and it’s not easy to lose a game like this. there”, commented the captain of the France team Sarah Michel.
The choice to do without Johannès
For the French Federation, this premature setback is a signal to take into consideration when approaching the home stretch towards the next Olympics in France, after strong choices during the preparation for this competition.
The management of the France team had announced that to seek the European title, the twelve players selected had to participate in all of the preparation from May 24, to smooth the automatisms between players.
The problem arose for Marine Johannès, forced to go to the United States at the end of May to initial her contract with New York and to stay there until the beginning of June. Unable to show up at the start of the Les Bleues gathering, she was not selected, the staff preferring to deprive themselves of one of their essential players rather than reconsider their demands.
A lot of bad luck among the Blues
The French group also had bad luck with the concussion during the first round of the French championship final between Asvel and Villeneuve d’Ascq, of their winger Gabby Williams, installed as a basic element of the workforce. since Euro-2021 to become, like Marine Johannès, one of the essential cogs. And during the Euros, a third senior player in the group, Iliana Rupert, injured her right shoulder in the last match, without stake, of the first round against Slovenia and has not played since.
Finally, the Federation had separated from Valérie Garnier in September 2021, setting the mission for Jean-Aimé Toupane to seek the European title.
Successor to Pierre Vincent at the head of the France team after silver at Euro-2013, Garnier had chained four finals (lost) at the Euro, plus a bronze medal in Tokyo at the Olympic Games in 2021. Insufficient, had judged the French Federation, to be extended in office until the Olympic Games-2024.