Handball: Les Bleues finish their preparation for the World Cup with an easy success against South Korea

2023-11-26 21:09:18

It is far too early to draw conclusions and dreams of grandeur. The “French tournament” in Caen did not offer sufficiently strong opposition to the French women’s team to affirm that it is approaching the next World Cup with full certainty. After a first victory on Friday against Senegal (32-19), the Blue inflicted the same punishment this Sunday on the Koreans: 36-19. South Korea, winner of the Asian qualifying tournament, is qualified for the Olympic Games. But it rather appears in the second division of international handball. France is well ahead and they showed it in Caen.

After a first match against Senegal that the coach did not judge to be without reproaches, the Blues tightened up, conceding only 7 goals at half-time, where they had already won the match after having scored 18. Apart from a slight slump at the very start of the second half, they did not let up their effort. “We really had a good match, we got into it well. A lot of things worked, we decided to raise the level of aggression. The game is taking shape, which bodes well. There is fluidity, few ball losses and less hesitation in attack,” appreciated the coach at the microphone of beIN Sports.

GOOD MATCH! ???????? 36 -19 ????????
The BLEUES win the 2023 French Tournament ????
End of preparation for the BLEUES, now heading to Norway for the 2023 IHF World Cup ????????#BluetProud pic.twitter.com/wUuFfxZvdX

— French Handball Teams (@FRAHandball) November 26, 2023

For Olivier Krumbholz’s Bleues, things get serious and the World Cup will begin this Thursday, November 30 against an affordable opponent. Angola, which already has its ticket for Paris 2024 in the bag, should offer opposition well within the reach of the Olympic champions. It will become a little more difficult two days later against Iceland, then Slovenia on December 4. Before probably meeting the Koreans in the second round and then especially the Norwegians, the Blues will have to stock up on points and confidence in this first round.

However, before flying to Norway where the first two rounds of the French will take place before a trip to Denmark for the final phase, there remains a task to accomplish for the staff: reduce the group from 20 to 18 units. Not all the players present in Normandy will be at the World Cup. The coach with more than 500 matches on the bench of the France team should communicate the list of the lucky ones this Monday. There will be disappointments because implicitly, it is also the selection for the Games that is at stake.