Women’s European Championship. Third place to look for blue
Having lost to the Norwegians in every field, the French want to leave the capital of Slovenia with a bronze medal in Thursday’s semi. They will have to get the best of the Montenegrins this Sunday afternoon.
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LThe defeat of Norway (28-20) in the semifinals of the European Championship should send the French team to the Paris-2024 Olympic Games twenty months before the deadline. The journey begins this Sunday (17:45) in Slovenia, facing Montenegro.
After thirteen days of an impeccable course, the impression of superiority given by Olivier Krumbholz’s men was once again shattered in the fjords, as in the finals of Euro 2020 and WC 2021. He hopes so, though “nice reaction”the coach who followed the Friday-Saturday night slap, rules out the accident thesis, as do his superiors. “There is a lot of work, collectively and individually, until the Olympic Games, which is our goalknows the technician. Since the world (last year’s Spanish), in any case, I told the players that the Norwegians should return to us, and this balance of power should be reversed. »
Les Bleues, often clumsy in their rare ball runs against their opponents, struggled in attack, in which sector the difference in level between their back three Oftedal – Mork – Reistad was evident.
“We needed six attacks to score. I’m exaggerating, but that was the feeling I got from the bench. Beatrice Edwige
“This is a wake-up call.the pivot knows Béatrice Edwige. They needed two attacks to score. We needed six. I’m exaggerating, but that was the feeling I got from the bench. » The absence of Méline Nocandy, who suffered a serious knee injury in October, was aggravated by her sharing the center half role with Grace Zaadi. But the Scandinavians weren’t quite ready in attack either, because they were missing a big part: pivot Kari Brattset, who became a mother earlier in the month, last year’s best player in the planetary competition.
“They often say that you learn more in defeat than in victory. For once, we’re right about that. Conceding the last goal is not a setback. This match is very instructive”Captain Estelle supports Nze Minko. “The attack weighed heavily on our minds and hurt our defense as well”comments Krumbholz, who is also concerned about physical incompatibility. “There was no picture
. In this sense, the game with Montenegro is very important. If we are still having a lot of difficulty on the physical level, it means that we will no longer have a whole event and we will have to draw all the consequences. »
This match for the bronze medal is very difficult for France, who have collected 7 charms in the last eight tournaments. It would be bad manners to fail in the absence of Russia this year.
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