Facing the Netherlands in Skopje for a small final this Wednesday evening (North Macedonia), the whole stake consisted in first place in group C. The French Olympic champions had already ensured their qualification for the main round, but each point counts in this European championship, the results of the first round being retained for the following one.
Therefore, the winner of this France – Netherlands would pave the way for a semi-final – the first two teams from the two main round pools will qualify for the last four.
After the victories over North Macedonia (24-14) and Romania (35-21), the opposition went up a notch again against the Dutch, world champions 2019, and in clear recovery after three complicated years . And revenge after the lesson received from the hands of the Blues, 32-22 in the quarter-finals of the last Games.
In this context, Olivier Krumbholz’s players attacked the part with their feet on the floor and built a three-goal lead after four minutes. However, the Batavians entered their match without delay and the gap quickly closed afterwards.
At the break, Les Bleues only led two small goals, 14-12, thanks to a great first period by French goalkeeper Cléopâtre Darleux (14 saves over the whole game), combined with numerous losses of Dutch ball in offensive phase.
In the second half, the French, without really demerit, did not manage to win their opponents on the scoreboard, the lead of the Blue never exceeding three goals. Thus, the French saw the Dutch return to 20-19, when they were playing six against four … (44th).
The captain and leader of the Bleues, Nze Minko gave three goals in advance but immediately afterwards, the latter, then Flippes left their teammates four against six.
But in the end, the Habs managed to thwart the Dutch, stemming a final shot from Malenstein, the opposition’s top scorer, to win 26-24. “We were a lot ahead but not a lot, commented a satisfied Krumbholz on the beIN mirco. It’s a team that plays fast and is difficult to play. Both attacks struggled to find solutions. It was a tense match, we missed opportunities to break, especially when we were on the power play. But we remained stable and we were able to win this match in the last minutes. »