The Blues beaten by their Danish rivals for their entry into the competition

The French team faced the Danes, whom it met in the final of the last Olympic Games, World Championships and Euro, for its entry into the Olympic tournament, and it lost 37-29.

They are more used to crossing paths at the end of the tournament, and this habit has been working well for the Blues recently. But for its entry into the Olympic tournament against the Danes, the French team lost (37-29), Saturday July 27. This defeat is a bad move in terms of finishing in first place in the group and coming up against a more affordable opponent in the quarter-finals, but it in no way affects the golden objective of the Blues, who have four group matches left.

Finals of the last Olympic Games, the last World Championships, the last Euro… but a first match in Paris, between the two best teams in the world. The Blues responded from the start on Saturday evening in the small hall of the Paris Sud Arena (5765 seats), and were able to count on a fiery crowd.

Enough to quickly lead by five goals after 12 minutes (9-4). The numerous saves by Vincent Gérard (five in the first half) finished electrifying the crowd, as did the super-powerful long-range shots by Nedim Remili and Elohim Prandi. The Blues were then having fun and wanted to give some, with in particular a kung-fu performance between Nikola Karabatic and Nedim Remili, in front of a crazy crowd that made the stands shake like tubes.

But the machine gradually seized up, with rotations that did not fully bring satisfaction, poorly managed numerical inferiorities with goals in the empty net, and above all a Denmark awakened with in particular an unstoppable Mathias Gidsel facing a less impenetrable defense. The Danes came back to the score and took the advantage for the first time in the 24th minute (15-14) and kept it until the break (18-17).

The scenario was unfortunately not reversed in the second half as the Danes took advantage of a numerical superiority to extend their lead to four goals. The physical fight then rose to a crescendo, sometimes causing a bit of tension between the players, under pressure from the crowd. Guillaume Gille’s men were unfortunately often overwhelmed, conceding too many seven-meter throws (6), and their approximations in attack, with too many ball losses, allowed the Danes to unfold.

They therefore lost at the start of their competition and this setback will teach them lessons for the future in a tough group, with their next match against Norway on Monday. They may have wasted a wild card to finish first in their group, but they still have every chance of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the quarter-finals in Lille.