Martin Lange / Photo credits: PIOTR MATUSEWICZ / DPPI VIA AFP
France faces Germany, the host country, in the third and final match of the preliminary round for the Euro handball this Tuesday evening. After leaving feathers against Switzerland, the Blues would do well to avoid the misstep against the Mannschaft.
Germany, host of the Euro handball tournament, qualified for the main round by dominating North Macedonia (34-25) on Sunday in Berlin, like Hungary, victorious over Serbia (28-27). After a successful start, France was held this weekend by modest Switzerland (26-26). A misstep which already places the Blues’ backs against the wall before facing the host country this Tuesday evening.
A decisive meeting
It’s a first joker that the Blues burned on Sunday. Apathetic in defense, clumsy in front of goal, the French even left a match point to the Helvetians, fortunately missed. We will have to seriously raise the level of play this evening, as coach Guillaume Gille recognizes among our colleagues at BeIN Sports. “We clearly had individual performances which were a little average in certain sectors of the game. To perform well against the Germans here, we will need a much more accomplished copy,” he says.
“We’re still in the game”
Impressive Germans since the start of the competition. Carried by their audience, with more than 50,000 spectators in Düsseldorf at the opening, a record for a handball match. They had scattered these same Swiss 27 to 14, not enough to scare the left-handed Dika Mem. “The competition is not over. We are still in the game. The focus is on Germany. We are going to play against a superb team who play at home, but we are used to playing this type of match and we are going to give everything,” he says.
A victory this Tuesday evening would greatly simplify life for the Blues: no apothecary calculations and guaranteed qualification for the main round of this Euro 2024.