Cyrille de la Morinerie, edited by Philippe Folgado // Photo credit: Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP
The European champions are back home. The French handball team, victorious against Denmark in the Euro 2024 final, was received by Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace this Monday afternoon. The opportunity for the Blues to savor their victory before returning to their respective clubs.
The French handball team returned from Cologne this afternoon with the European champion trophy in their suitcases. And as he did a few months ago with the handball players, world champions, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, received the heroes as well as their families.
“It’s a real pride to be present”
“After a fantastic women’s victory, here you are! The goal is first of all to say a huge congratulations to you for this fourth European title. You have given a wonderful lesson in courage, commitment, obviously sporting, but I must also say mental”, underlines the Head of State.
And after Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, and François Hollande, Emmanuel Macron is the fourth president to receive Nicolas Karabatic at the Élysée. The legendary handball player now knows the palace perfectly. Which does not prevent the three-time Olympic champion from being happy to go to this place once again and to greet the president: “The president actually came down to see us, to take the photo. We sang the Marseillaise. So “It was a really good time. The youngest members of the team were impressed, it was the first time for them. We’re proud of that.”
Elohim Prandi, the author of the victorious free kick in the final seconds of the semi-final against Sweden, discovered the Élysée. He even had the honor of speaking for several minutes with the President of the Republic: “We talked about the match, the weekend, but also the free kick. It’s cool to speak with your President and to have a bit of this closeness with him. It’s a real pride to be present.”
French handball players are officially on vacation, but it promises to be short. In two days, Guillaume Gille’s players will be back at their respective clubs.