Ice hockey: winner of Poland, France gets closer to remaining in the world elite

A relief. After two defeats against Kazakhstan (3-1) then Latvia (3-2 ap), the French team played very big this Tuesday evening to maintain its place in the elite during the 3rd day of the World Championships in Czech Republic. Despite great pressure, the Blues won (4-2) at the expense of Poland, promoted this year to the World Cup A.

Determined and efficient, Philippe Bozon’s men broke away in three minutes during the first half thanks to a double from Justin Addamo. After finishing the regular season with his team Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the Minor League in the United States, the French striker replaced as a medical joker his teammate Nicolas Ritz, victim of a broken hand during the first match lost against Kazakhstan.

Serious and disciplined, the Blues worsened the score at the start of the second third (4-0, 27th) thanks to goals from their two stars Stéphane Da Costa and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Despite a relaxation at the end of the period (4-2, 40th), France retained its lead during the last period to achieve a capital success with a view to maintaining its position. In the rankings, it climbs to 5th place in group B, tied on points with the 4th, the United States, which they will face this Thursday. Above all, they are 3 points ahead of Poland (plus the specific goal average), last and virtually relegated to the 2nd division.

“It’s a reward for the players’ investment over the last 3 matches. We deserved better in the first matches, says coach Philippe Bozon. After the two Polish goals we mainly thought about defending. We knew the importance of victory and we were able to hold on to the result. Our survival is not yet assured. The United States is a big step but we can still find opponents. »

The rest of the competition now promises to be very difficult with 4 matches on the program against the 4 best teams in the group. After the clash against the Americans, the French will play against Slovakia this Saturday, Sweden on Monday and Germany next Tuesday. But, ten years later, they can still dream of qualifying for the quarter-finals by finishing in one of the first 4 places in their group.