Victorious (35-31) of the Slovenes without trembling, the Olympic champions will face the main turn of Montenegro, Spain, then Iran or Chile. Unbeaten since the start of the tournament, the Blues are well left to access the quarter -finals.
by Jérôme Porier
With three victories in as many matches, the French handballers have been full of points during the preliminary round of the World Cup, which takes place in Poland and Sweden from January 11 to 29. In Katowice, SPODEK, omnisports room in the shape of a flying saucer, the Olympic champions dominated with authority Slovenia (35-31).
This meeting between two victorious teams from Poland and Saudi Arabia constituted a serious test for the Habs. Net winners of the Poles on Saturday (32-23), the Slovenes did not approach this match against one of the favorites of the competition in expiatory victims.
The start of the match was removed, sometimes disheveled, between two playful teams, brought to the attack. It was not until the end of the first quarter of an hour to see France stand out from the score (9-6), in particular thanks to the 500 e goal in selection of the semi-center Kentin Mahé. In the absence of Dika Mem, injured in the abdominals, the other tricolor executives responded: Nikola Karabatic, Ludovic Fabregas, and, above all, Nedim Remili, in a big evening, dominated the debates.
Adepts of a quick game, the Slovenes encountered the power of French pivots and sometimes seemed without solution, with the exception, intermittently, of the powerful right rear Aleks Vlah. At the 23 e minute, France was taking five goals in advance thanks to two goals from Nedim Remili, untenable.
A series of French errors, including two balloons in the face of goalkeeper Urban Lesjak, who led the exclusions for two minutes from Valentin Porte, then Melvyn Richardson, however were going to put the Slovenes back in the game. Urban Lesjak released some beautiful stops, preventing the French from scoring for three minutes. At the break, the gap was only two goals in favor of the Blues. 2>
injury by Nedim remili
Physically dominators, the Habs returned from the locker room with the firm intention of killing the match. At the 35
In an end of the match without suspense, only the exit on injury of Nedim Remili, sparkling until then, singularly darkened the final table. In his absence, Nikola Karabatic and Kentin Mahé shared the position of playmaker in the last ten minutes.
“It was a real test. We were frustrated at the break, because we had the feeling of being dominating and the Slovenians were however glued to our Basques. We had to work to distance them in the second period, said Guillaume Gille, the coach of the Blues, at the microphone of BeIN Sport at the end of the meeting. We are well launched in this competition, despite the injury of Nedim Remili. I think it is a small muscle contracture, it’s part of the vagaries in this type of fight. We are going to do exams and we will know more tomorrow. “
First group B, the Habs will make the short trip (80 km) from Katowice to Krakow, south of Poland. They will face three teams from group A: Montenegro, Wednesday, January 18, Spain two days later, then Iran or Chile, January 22. The reunion with Spain, where several tricolor internationals evolve (Ludovic Fabregas, Melvyn Richardson and Dika Mem) promise to be muscular. He is a formidable opponent, very regular at the highest level (winner of Euro 2020, third of the 2021 World Cup and finalist of Euro 2022). > Each day new crossword grids, sudoku and words found. Play -section>
To join the quarter -finals, the men of coach Guillaume Gille will have to finish in one of the first two places in their group in the main round. The Blues will only go to Sweden in case of qualification for the quarters – Stockholm hosts two quarter -finals, one semi -final, the final (January 29) and the classification matches of the 5 > at 8 e place.