A red and blue steamroller derailed the blue train, Sunday, December 19, in the final of the handball world championship, in Spain. A year after beating France in the Euro final, Norway won their fourth world title. The victory is beautiful for the Scandinavians who had been narrowly beaten (23-21) by the Blue in the final of the World Cup 2017.
Olympic champion in Japan in August, the French team will have to wait before winning a third world title after those of 2003 and 2017. Dominant in the first period, ahead of 4 goals at the break, the French are collapsed on return from the locker room, cashing a scathing 17-6. In the sports hall of Granollers, where they had played and won all their matches since the start of the competition – which had never happened to them in a big meeting – the Habs, helpless in attack, were unrecognizable and could not contain the revolt of the Nordics. Which made center-half Estelle Nze Minko say that « c’[était] the worst half that we do in the whole competition ”.
In the second half, the French attackers systematically came up against Silje Solberg, the experienced goalkeeper of the red and blue, author of a masterful performance in his goals, while the Norwegian back lines, led by Henny Reistad, chained long shots distance. An area where France still fished on Sunday. Since the start of the World Cup, this recurring weakness had been emphasized on several occasions by Olivier Krumbholz, the French coach. Another negative point, the Blue have only very rarely managed to find their wings against Norway. An observation that had already been drawn up after the match against Serbia, with difficulty won 22 to 19 in the main round
“A very beautiful medal”
Despite the handball lesson administered in the final by a Scandinavian team that the French coach considers “The best in the world”, the objective posted at the start of the World Cup, to win a medal, has been achieved. “It’s a very nice medal, but it’s also a warning”, tempered Olivier Krumbholz after the match. Since his return to the head of the Bleues in 2016 – he had already led the France team from 1998 to 2013 – the Habs have reached the last four in seven of the eight international competitions in which they have participated.
There are other reasons to look to the future with optimism. With Grâce Zaadi, the conductor of the French attack, France probably has the best center-half in the world. The axis she forms in the center of the field with the young pivot Pauletta Foppa, 20, has little equivalent in the world. But when his opponents manage to stop the mechanics, it is the entire blue collective that is lacking solutions, for lack of powerful rear.
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