2024-01-28 19:34:00
These Blues are giants! Monsters ! They became European champions again, ten years after their last title in 2014, at the end of a final as breathtaking as it was spectacular against Denmark, won, like Friday’s semi-final against Sweden, after a extension much better controlled than the match as a whole (33-31 after). But no matter the adversity, the hard blows, this French team knows the recipe to get through it, again. Always. Masters of time and suspense. Fascinating !
“It’s a lot of satisfaction,” relishes pivot Ludovic Fabregas at the microphone of BeIN Sports. We are really happy to win a competition that France has not won for 10 years. We are really happy for French handball after what the girls did (world champions a month ago), it’s magical. »
CHAMPIONS D’EUROPE ! ????
It’s done ! The BLUES win against the Danes and climb to the roof of Europe!????
The French team wins its 4th European title ????
BRAVO AND THANK YOU THE BLUE ????????????#BluetProud pic.twitter.com/6M1nsFX5BA— French Handball Teams (@FRAHandball) January 28, 2024
“It’s a match where we are often behind,” continues the Veszprem player. We never got too upset either, we knew how to hold on and show mental strength. After what we experienced two days ago (against Sweden), we still had resources. It’s magnificent, the team gave everything. A bit like two days ago, the team was able to quickly take the advantage in added time. »
Could the outcome be different between these two teams who know each other by heart? Opponents during the last two Olympic finals and in the final of the last World Cup, the Danes and French met in Cologne in a sort of ultimate battle of leaders. The French Olympic champions started the match with a terrible lack of efficiency against goalkeeper Emil Nielsen, author of seven saves in the 16th minute of play (50% saves), when his counterpart Samir Bellahcene, revelation of the competition, started the match next to his pumps.
Top scorer for the Blues since the start of the German Euro, Dika Mem also spent a very long time in the fog, he who did not see a single one of his first five shots end up in the net. However, France has never been led by more than two goals in the first act, which ended at 14-14.
Hansen, long executioner of Bellahcene
The second half started like the first, with the Danes impeccable in shooting and Mikkel Hansen excellent in the exercise of the seven-meter throw (7/7) and now top scorer in the history of the Euro ahead of Nikola Karabatic. Mute in front of the goal for 7 minutes straddling the two periods, the Blues came up against a flying Dane in the name of Nielsen, imperial in his cages, making the French relive their air gap after returning from the locker room against Sweden in semi final.
Scrambled, kept away from the Danish zone, Guillaume Gille’s men were able to maintain the score thanks to a firm defense which frustrated the Danes. In a breathtaking end to the match, where the two teams went blow for blow, the Blues came back to the score in the 53rd thanks to Nedim Remili before the hero of the previous round, Elohim Prandi, scored his goal, a decisive pass and fierce defense to keep France afloat.
“What they achieved this evening is insane”
So far scoring only from seven meters, Mikkel Hansen continued to disgust Bellahcene by scoring in quick succession in the game before Kirkeløkke left for two minutes (57th). But the Blues were unable to take advantage of their numerical superiority. It was seven against seven that Ludovic Fabregas equalized…twenty seconds from the end to snatch extra time. Clearly, these Blues never surrender.
And when the time comes for extra time, the time for the brave, they grow where their opponents weaken. Dika Mem hadn’t scored a goal in regulation time? He scored two in quick succession while Samir Bellahcene made a revenge save against Hansen from afar. “It’s amazing, we’ve had a crazy month,” exults the goalkeeper. It’s a fucking great victory, all the way, with the c…, the heart. I will remember it all my life, all my life. It’s a reward and I hope it will bring many more. »
Starting with the Paris Olympics? The Blues also broke the curse of the Euros often missed in an Olympic year. Six months before the meeting of a lifetime in Paris, this is not the least of the good news. “It’s huge what just happened. It was a crazy fight, a fight of titans, coach Guillaume Gille gets carried away at the microphone of TF1. We manage to find resources even though we are mistreated, we never give up and we find light in this extension which was stifling. The guys were fantastic. What they achieved tonight is insane. »
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