2023-10-12 00:31:32
A real demonstration. For their first qualifying match for the 2024 European Handball Championships, Les Bleues crushed Italy in Villeneuve-d’Ascq (50-16). Olivier Krumbholz’s players led from the first minute, never stopping to widen the gap. They are perfectly on track towards qualification.
The match was one-sided throughout. After just two minutes, the French were already leading 4-0. Thanks to the numerous losses of the ball by the Italians, disrupted by the solid French defense, the Blues were able to return to the locker room with the feeling of duty already accomplished (29-9).
The second half only confirmed this impression. While the coach took advantage of this walk in the park to offer playing time to his entire squad, the handball players did not slow down. Extremely fast on the counterattack, they took advantage of the slowness of the Alps to punish them regularly. Concentrated and diligent, the French finished in style with a new goal, the 50th of the evening, scored by Alicia Toublanc.
“We respected them”
After the match, Olivier Krumbholz savored the totally accomplished performance of his players. “It’s true that the Italians did not succeed in bringing us any significant opposition but the French team did not take it easy, they played quickly,” declared the coach at the microphone of La Chaîne L’ Team. There is a big difference in level, but sometimes in this kind of power struggle, we end up relaxing. We kept up the pressure, we can regret having missed a lot of shots. But we remained constant, we respected them. »
In the France group, Slovenia also pulverized Latvia (51-13). With the first two nations in each group directly qualified for the tournament, which will take place in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland in December 2024, France and Slovenia have already taken a solid step towards this Euro. Les Bleues’ next match, Saturday evening against Latvia, could be an additional clue.
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