Karabatic Wounds. WOLFGANG RATTAY / REUTERS
This Thursday in Cologne, the Blues defeated Croatia (34-32) and took first place in their group.
One more step to get closer to the last square. By dominating Croatia this Thursday after a superb showdown (34-32), the French team confirms its rise in power, two days after its success against Germany (33-30). Above all, the Blues took the opportunity to take the lead in their group alone in front of the surprising Austrian team, who fell earlier in the day to Hungary (30-29). Which means that the French almost have a joker now.
Faithful to their tradition since the start of the Euro, the Blues started the match in diesel mode, letting the Croats take their ease in attack, like the diabolical Mario Sostaric who continued his improbable flawless shooting with three goals in a row (21 out of 21 shooting since the start of the competition). But also true to form, France reacted as soon as the ship rocked a little too much (5-7, 10th) and signed a 3-0 to take control (8-7, 13th). Attractive on the offensive level, the team led by Guillaume Gille then went through a good period of around ten minutes, which allowed it to take a three-point lead (17-14, 24th). Who could have counted four without a failure six meters from Karl Konan.
Kuzmanovic torments the Blues
A mini-turning point because in the process, the unexpected Mateo Maras, who had not scored a single goal so far in this Euro, came out of his shell to sign a 3-0 in favor of his team (17-17 , 28th), which led the two teams to return to their locker rooms with a score of parity (18-18). Enough to feed some regrets for the Blues, dominating before letting go in the last five minutes. Regrets which would continue in the second half since, another French tradition during this Euro, Dika Mem and others granted themselves a lead of four goals (26-22, 44th). A viaticum which, however, evaporated after a few unfortunate choices and other shooting failures against Dominik Kuzmanovic (27-26, 50th).
Decisive turn in money-time
The money-time seemed tense, including in the stands where some Croatian fanatics threw projectiles at the French bench, which forced the refereeing body to stop the match for a few moments. Dylan Nahi and Nedim Remili then managed two consecutive interceptions which gave the Blues some breathing room (29-26, 53rd), but the Croats refused to give in and bend their knee (32-31, 58th). Everything depended on two last French possessions perfectly concluded by Nicolas Tournat, such a valuable replacement at the pivotal position while Ludovic Fabregas had been excluded a quarter of an hour before (34-32). A very important success, which will need to be confirmed on Saturday against Iceland (3:30 p.m.).
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