2023-12-02 07:15:00
Not really time to think about his average performance against Angola. Two days after its very narrow victory, 30 to 29, the French women’s handball team is preparing to face Iceland, this Saturday from 6 p.m. in Stavanger (Norway).
The reigning Olympic champions will have to do better than Thursday evening if they want to secure their ticket for the next round. “Overall, we played badly, that’s for sure,” admitted Olivier Krumbholz on BeIN Sports after the match. We panicked in attack, the team froze. Mentally, we were not well. All the credit goes to the players who won anyway.”
The French were particularly scared at the end of the match, unable to score more despite their numerical superiority. “We must miss around fifteen (shots), if we only miss half of them, it makes all the difference. It’s up to us to prepare better mentally, perhaps, or to work more in training,” explained winger Chloé Valentini.
They want to “show a better face” according to center half Grace Zaadi, aware that “to advance (far in the competition) we will have to commit fewer turnovers, score more goals etc. “. “I hope that match after match we will gain strength” added to AFP Zaadi, one of the players who went through Thursday, like the other center half, Méline Nocandy.
France’s favorite on paper
Both must reestablish themselves at international level, Zaadi having just returned from two months of absence (plantar aponeurosis), and Nocandy after having missed almost the whole of last season after rupturing the cruciate ligaments of his left knee . “I feel good even if I am not yet at 100% of my abilities. I hope that the more the competition progresses, the more I will be able to get 100%,” said Zaadi.
Facing her this Saturday, Valentini and her teammates will find a modest Icelandic team, which lost from the start against Slovenia (30-24) and which has never done better than a defeat in the round of 16. final as part of a World Handball Championship. It was in 2011. On paper, France is the favorite but it will have to show more serenity to advance in this competition. According to coach Olivier Krumbholz, the Icelanders are “as difficult to play as Angola but in a more classic style, more around a playmaker”.
After Iceland, the Blues will return to Slovenia on Monday December 4, still in Stavanger. In the event of a victory against Iceland this Saturday, they would already be qualified for the second round of this World Cup, which will this time be held in Trondheim, still in Norway.
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