Olympic champions in Tokyo, the French handball players can continue to dream of a new world title, six years after their success during the world championships organized in Germany. By beating the Czech Republic (33-22) on Tuesday, December 12, the French recorded a seventh victory in a row in this competition, which takes place in Scandinavia until Sunday.
This is the seventh time in sixteen appearances that France has entered the final four of a world championship, a competition it has already won twice (in 2003 and 2017). The French will face the winner of the match between Sweden and Germany on Friday in Herning, Denmark, which takes place on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
After having beaten Angola with difficulty, the French team gained strength in this tournament against Iceland, Slovenia, Austria, South Korea and Norway, which allowed it to avoid cross paths with the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Faced with the Czechs who have only reached this stage of the competition once, the French were the clear favorites.
The Czech Republic, which failed to qualify for Euro 2022, has never reached the final four of a major competition. To reach the quarterfinals, the Czechs eliminated Spain and Brazil down to the wire.
Sparkling Laura Glauser
Played in Trondheim, Norway, in front of a sparse audience, this meeting was a trap for the Tricolores. During their last confrontation, in April 2022, as part of qualifying for the Euro, the Czechs had also beaten a very overhauled French team (31-30), at home in Plzen.
Without shining, playing in fits and starts, the French handball players ended up wearing out the Czechs, penalized by the weakness of their bench. There were two very different halves in this long-undecided meeting. After a balanced first period, the Blues broke away after returning from the locker room thanks to a sparkling performance from goalkeeper Laura Glauser, author of 12 saves, at 67% efficiency.
“We were enormously helped by Laura Glauser, who had a crazy half-time, greeted Olivier Krumbholz, the coach of the France team, after the match at the microphone of BeIN Sports. In the first half, we froze a little in defense. In attack, it was sharper and more precise after the break. We have achieved our first objective. Now we have to let loose against Sweden or Germany, who are two very good teams. »
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