The organizing country was too strong. Faced with a Dutch selection confident in its strengths and pushed by an excited public, the French team was unable to hold its own this Monday and fell for the first time in this Women’s Handball World Cup. Second in their group, the Blues are still qualified for the quarter-finals.
Too clumsy, the French handball players came up against Dutch goalkeeper Yara Ten Holte on numerous occasions, absolutely magnificent in her cages (15 saves) and voted best player of the match. After scoring at least 40 goals during the group stage, the French struggled offensively and defensively.
If Ile-de-France goalkeeper Hatadou Sako also delivered a very good performance (12 saves), her teammates’ multiple losses of the ball will certainly have cost them the victory. Without ever letting go of contact, Sébastien Gardillou’s players ended up losing despite vain attempts to return to the scoreboard in the final minutes.
“If the defeat is deserved? Totally, assumes the coach of the Bleues. We tried to play with our weapons in a difficult match where the Dutch players were much better than us defensively at certain moments. They did what they could today. It’s up to us to see if we can increase our effectiveness against Denmark. Overall, when a goalkeeper makes 40%, stopping is crippling. »
The French team will face Denmark in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, while the Netherlands will meet Hungary to try to reach the last four of their World Cup at home.
