No medal for the Blues, the reasons for a failure

For the first time since 2004, the French men’s handball team did not qualify for the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament.

They had accustomed us to gold, crowned Olympic champions in 2008, 2012 and 2021, or at least silver, in 2016. But in Paris 2024, they will not even leave with the chocolate medal. The French men’s handball team, Olympic champion and reigning European champion, was eliminated from the Olympic tournament in the quarter-finals after its defeat against Germany on Wednesday, August 7, at the end of a tournament where it was never at its level.

The offensive sector in difficulty

If the Blues have never ceased to repeat that “It’s with defense that we win matches” and that theirs was rather solid, it is clear that they lost mainly because of a failing attack. “We only found the French team’s game in sequences”concedes the coach, Guillaume Gille. The Blues often seemed to lack creativity to destabilize the opposing defense. “The average number of goals per match is well below our usual standard”adds Jérôme Fernandez, France TV Sport consultant. In these Olympics, the Tricolores have never scored more than 30 goals per match (excluding extra time), while during the last Euro, their average of goals per match was 34.

An energy-consuming start to the competition

When the tournament’s group draw was made, Guillaume Gille had chosen to place his team in the toughest group, with Denmark and Norway, in the hope of coming up against a more challenging opponent in the quarter-finals. But the Blues lost to both teams, getting their competition off to a very bad start. “It took us a long time to find our balance, and the energy spent rebuilding ourselves and regaining sporting momentum cost us a lot,” explains Guillaume Gille.

Some of his men had also been affected by mourning with the death of the PSG handball physiotherapist during the preparation. “There are things that unfortunately have disrupted the team’s start. This bereavement may have played a role, but not all the players in the team knew this person. We shouldn’t make too many excuses. We dragged this start of the competition around like a ball and chain.”adds Jérôme Fernandez.

Leaders absent

Best player of the Euro in January and conductor of the French game, Nedim Remili did not have a good tournament and admits it. “It’s certainly not my best competition, it’s even very complicated, but I’m not giving up,” he declared in the preliminary round. But in the quarter-finals, against Germany, the centre-half struggled again, with just two goals from six attempts, for a low total of 12 goals in the tournament. “When you have a playmaker in difficulty, the balls have difficulty arriving at the forward base for the pivots. We would have needed another option in this position, with another professional center half to replace Nedim”analyzes Jérôme Fernandez, while Kentin Mahé, who occupied this position in January, was not selected.

Like Nedim Remili, Ludovic Fabregas also received very few balls at his pivot position, while he had scored 44 goals (on 50 shots) during the Euro. He sometimes seemed to have slippery hands when receiving the ball and often found the posts, finishing this tournament with only 17 goals. Nikola Karabatic was not much more successful when he came off the bench (6 goals). Dika Mem, for his part, seems to have been the only one of these leaders at the rendezvous, with 37 goals scored, but unfortunately with an error, which cost the victory against Germany.

Les Bleus will now have to start a new four-year cycle before the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, without three of their legends, Nikola Karabatic, Vincent Gérard and Valentin Porte, who played their last match for the French team on Wednesday. Their replacements have already been more or less identified, with the young Thibaud Briet at left-back or Samir Bellahcene in goal. It remains to be seen whether Guillaume Gille will continue on the bench.