Blues face German trap

Quarter-finals and play-offs. What awaits the French team this Tuesday in Gdansk. Blues Begins at Lech Walesa’s Former Castle”another tournament and it’s all resetas their coach Guillaume Gille likes to remind us. Certainly, their six wins in six matches since the start of the competition has advantages in terms of confidence and composure, especially as they have been accompanied by fine manpower management in terms of playing time. , especially Dika Mem and Nicola. Karabatic can be released to rest as much as he needs to recover from his minor physical handicaps.

Even as goalkeeper Vincent Gerrard rightly reminds us, “the matches were still long and hard to get there. But that’s right, the fact that Dika and Niko can rest for a few matches can be an asset for us. What they lost in speed, they were able to gain in physical freshness, which could count against teams that may have pulled the strings more than some.So, apart from the titular goalkeeper, no French player has stayed out for four hours or more, with the most in-demand players being Ludovic Fabregas with 3 hours 50 and Nedim Remil with 3 hours 35. little. For comparison, Germany has five players who have exceeded 3 hours, except for the goalkeeper position. Maybe a detail, but if we add the recovery day, which Mannschaft least benefited from, it can mean a lot…

Six wins in six games

Now this asset of freshness will be rendered useless if the Blues stutter their handball, as has been the case at times since the start of this World Cup. In each of the six matches, they had (very) strong but also (big) weaknesses. It will be imperative for Guillaume Gille to rely on the former while reducing the latter in order to stay out of the first quarter. Because these six consecutive successes give the Blues appetite and legitimate ambitions. Not that there weren’t some before they flew to Poland. However, his many breaks (Descat, N’Guessan, Conan, Kouncoud, Minne…) and his last races leaving a taste of unfinished business (4th in the last Euro and World Cup) – the Olympic champion in Tokyo in 2021 of course -, France it lacked certainty except that it had brilliant potential. Now he is brimming with confidence even though he knows things are far from perfect in his game.

Even when the game seems to turn against us, we manage to regroup, turn our backs and not panic.

Vincent Gerard

“Nothing is perfect in high-level sport“says Vincent Gérard.”There are times when we play great handball, but there are also times when our level is less effective, we lose a lot of balls, our defensive intensity drops a few notches.But the goalkeeper clarified in a positive tone. “So far, in this World Cup, we’ve always known how to handle things when the going gets tough, as we did in Spain (28-26) took a three-goal lead in the second half or Poland continued their comeback in the first game (26-24). Even when the game seems to turn against us, we manage to regroup, turn our backs and not panic.Many qualities that explain why France entered this quarter-final unbeaten.

Dika Mem, luxury joker

No. 1 scorer Kentin Mahe (26 goals, including 13 of 15 7-meter attempts), long-range shooter and passer Nedim Remili (10 goals from 9 meters and already 22 assists this World Cup) finishers Yanis Lenne and Dylan Nahi and with Dika Mem, who has missed four of six matches with stomach problems now settled as a luxury joker, the Blues are not short of assets. Even if they know against Germany, nothing is easy. A look at the last four clashes between the two teams since 2016 is enough to understand this, with the French winning three by one goal each time to a draw. “We all remember the mythical Franco-Germany“Luka Karabatic remembers.”Germany counts for a lot on the European stage. There are no small teams in the 1/4 final stage. Whether it’s Germany or Norway, it would be a very good opponent anyway.So it’s time to get down to business. For the Blues, I hope they continue until the final day on Sunday.