Having met for three weeks in Tignes (Savoie) and then at the Maison du Handball in Créteil, the reigning Olympic champions will finally be able to stretch their legs, shoulders and wrists exactly two weeks before their start at the Olympic Games.
Beaten in January at home by the Scandinavians in the semi-final of Euro 2024 (won by France), Germany looks like a good indicator to “allow us to assess where we are, where we are physically, where we are in the game”, believes the coach of the French team Guillaume Gille.
“Arriving with maximum certainty”
The opposition against Germany in Dortmund (5:40 p.m.) will serve as a starting line for the Blues in order to gain momentum and “to arrive at the start of the competition with maximum certainty about our game, our physical and technical abilities,” he adds. The Blues will indeed have a lot to do at the start of the Olympics against Denmark, on July 27 at the Arena Paris Sud.
The coach extends the test to the second friendly match, Wednesday against Croatia in Chartres: “We have opponents who are going to challenge us” after a first block essentially devoted to basic work in Tignes, followed by a second in Créteil more focused on handball.
Life without Mem
“We have to get going again,” said the coach of the Blues on Monday, who will then play a “familiarization match” in the Arena Paris Sud (Porte de Versailles) on July 23 against Slovenia.
After announcing his list of 14 starters and three substitutes for Paris, Gille will already have to do without one of his key players against Germany. FC Barcelona right-back Dika Mem, who suffered a left thumb injury on Tuesday, will require “a period of immobilization of several days” according to the French Federation’s press release.
The management has recalled centre-half Kentin Mahé, who was not selected in the 17, who will act as Mem’s interim at least for this first match. However, it is unlikely that the 33-year-old will be in Paris, where France will be aiming for a second consecutive Olympic title.
Conversely, last adjustment for the Blues before Paris
The Blues will play their last Olympic preparation match on Saturday against Angola in Cesson-Sévigné (Ille-et-Vilaine),
The coach of the French team, Olivier Krumbholz, has no apparent problems to complain about before facing the best African nation (qualified for the Olympic Games) against whom France narrowly escaped a draw at the end of November in the opening of the World Cup (30-29) before winning the world title.
An opponent however several notches below Norway, opponent in Pau of the first two preparation matches, the first largely lost (22-34), the second much more reassuring (25-19) on the road to the defense of the Olympic title.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings