If all was not perfect, the French handball players made a satisfactory copy against Slovenia, Sunday, December 5, for their second match of the preliminary round of the world championships in Spain. After their victory Friday against Angola (30-20), the Blue won with eleven goals (29-18) and are qualified for the main round of the competition.
The Slovenes were picked cold early in the match by serious and applied Blue, with surgical strikes and tight defense. Atones in attack, the Slovenes failed to respond to the physical challenge imposed from the outset by the French and cashed a severe 7-0 entry – they had to wait for the 13e minute of play to score their first goal.
Building on her XXL performance from the previous match, goalkeeper Laura Glauser had a perfect start to the game, making more saves. In attack, center-half Grâce Zaadi, who had missed her match against Angola, found her way to the goal, while Estelle Nze Minko and Béatrice Edwige imposed their power in defense.
Unrolling their handball, the Blue led 9-2 after 20 minutes. But the Slovenes have come out of their lethargy. On the French side, the defensive retreats were slower, and the opponent took advantage of it. Finally, the French returned to the locker room with a 5-goal lead (13-8 at the break).
“Putting order in the defense”
In the second half, the match was balanced. The French were still showing some signs of nervousness in defense, and the Slovenes seemed to gain strength in attack, but could not come closer to less than 5 goals. Olivier Krumbholz, the coach of the France team, then took advantage of a time out to lecture his troops. “You do anything”, he told them, asking for “Restore order to the defense”.
At 21-15, two goals from Béatrice Edwige and Estelle Nze Minko gave the French air some fresh air. Then Laura Flippes and Méline Nocandy drove the point home. At 26-17 ten minutes from the end, the Blue could afford to manage their lead, while the young Lucie Granier stood out. In the end, the Blue will never have trembled against an opponent who is however deemed tough. Bodes well for the rest of the competition.
“We had a good start to the game with an iron defense and good variations in the upswings, then we fell easy and we offered them solutions. (…) The Slovenes came back, but they never really worried us. We absolutely have to regulate our shooting efficiency, because that can have consequences in a close match ”, summarized Olivier Krumbholz at the end of the match at the microphone of BeIN sports.
The black spot of the evening is the wound of Cleopatra Darleux. Victim of a sprained ankle, the goalkeeper of Brest Bretagne handball had to leave a quarter of an hour before the end. Regarding satisfaction, Grâce Zaadi, returned to her best level, was voted best player of the match.
Les Bleues will face Montenegro, Tuesday, December 7, at 8:30 p.m., still in Granollers. Whatever the outcome of this match, the France team will advance to the main round, during which the real skimming of this World Cup will take place. French women should cross paths with Serbs, Poles and Russians. A reunion that promises to be muscular because they had beaten the Blue in the group stage in Tokyo, before losing in the Olympic final.