This is probably the best thing that could happen to the Blues after their rout against Iceland (21-29) on Saturday. A clear and flawless victory. And above all, the prospect of a real “quarter-final” against Denmark, already qualified, on Wednesday (8:30 p.m.). Faced with Montenegro, Monday, January 24, the France team largely won (36-27), enough to put their heads back and therefore stay alive for the race to the semi-finals.
On the first possession of the game, Karl Konan eliminated the opposing attack as he discharged all the frustration accumulated since the start of the competition. Excellent at the start of the competition, the French defender quickly tested positive for Covid-19, missing in matches against the Netherlands and Iceland. At the end of the meeting, at the microphone of beIN Sports, Konan dared to compare with “a caged lion for seven days”. And the lion roared very quickly, from the start of the match.
Like him, his teammates dominated the start of the game, without widening the gap with a supposedly inferior opponent. Even the red card addressed to the Montenegrin captain (13th), Sevaljevic, did not change much in the face of the match: two teams which gauge each other without gaining ascendancy. Finally, it is rather the expulsion of Vincent Gérard, for having touched a player outside his zone, which made fear the worst as the French goalkeeper reassures in his goals since the start of the tournament. After the first delicate minutes where the Montenegrins even equalized (11-11, 21st) the Blues reacted well.
END OF THE MATCH –
The BLUEs regain confidence by winning well against Montenegro after a second half controlled from start to finish
RDV Wednesday for the last match of the main round against Denmark #BLUETFIER #EHFEURO2022 #MNEFRA pic.twitter.com/2xXDBWqyMj– French Handball teams (@FRAHandball) January 24, 2022
If Melvyn Richardson played the firefighters on duty very quickly with heavy strikes, then the whole team got back on track. A gradual move upmarket that allowed Guillaume Gille’s players to take the lead at the break. Gradually, Nikola Karabatic, elected man of the match for his 330th match in blue, and others took the measure of Montenegrins well within their reach.
In the second half, the French arrows even took the opportunity to heal their stats. Yanis Lenne, Aymeric Minne, Nicolas Tournat, Nikola Karabatic and Benoit Kounkoud all finished the game with four goals. Particularly untenable tonight, Dika Mem finished top scorer of the match with seven goals. In the end, the French team signs its biggest total of goals in the competition. In the absence of Vincent Gérard, Wesley Pardin was just as reassuring, making eight saves.
In the race for the semi-finals, the Icelandic defeat in the middle of the afternoon against Croatia (23-22) changed things a bit for the French. While an Icelandic success would have required a victory with a seven-goal difference, now a draw or a victory will be enough on Wednesday against Denmark (8:30 p.m.). They could even be qualified before going on the field if Iceland did not beat Montenegro a little earlier (3:30 p.m.).