While the French team continued its flawless Thursday at the European Handball Championship in Budapest (Hungary), the Covid-19 is disrupting the competition and generating a lot of uncertainty.
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“Iceland finds itself without its number 1 goalkeeper, without its best player; Germany has had twelve cases, including its goalkeeper who keeps the team at arm’s length…” The list drawn up by Vincent Gérard, goalkeeper of the French handball team, is representative of the complexity caused by the Covid-19 epidemic within the European championship, which takes place in Budapest (Hungary). After having signed its fourth victory in four games on Thursday January 20 thanks to a 34-24 victory against the Netherlands, France must now face Iceland on Saturday.
However, the major asset of the Icelandic camp, Aron Palmarsson, is positive for Covid-19 and will therefore not be in the game. “Every day is the lottery!”, annoys Vincent Gérard. “High-level sport is made up of so many details that when you also have to play the lottery, it’s very complicated.”
The puzzle is also valid for coaches. If the French team currently has only one positive player, Karl Konan, who has been in solitary confinement since Tuesday, Guillaume Gille must deal with the problems of others, hoping that the French camp remains relatively spared . “Even if we manage to put that aside, it remains a central subject. The virus is in the teams, so we have to live with that, without worrying too much”, testifies the coach of the tricolor camp.
Under these conditions, what will be the value of the European title when many teams could not be complete? “I don’t think whoever wins the competition will think it was a bit biased”, assures Aymeric Minne, author of eight goals against the Netherlands, which is the first European championship. Before thinking about a potential title at a discount, the France team will have to face, after Iceland, Montenegro and Denmark before possibly reaching the semi-finals.