Valentin Porte: "When we do calculations, we often have karma in our heads on D-Day"

Valentin, did you enjoy watching the Hungary-Spain meeting on Monday evening?

Valentin Porte:

Not at all.

As a handball enthusiast, I was happy to watch this match and beyond the result which I didn't care a little about, I was hoping to see a good match between two great teams.

Except that the proposed show spoiled my pleasure and to be honest, I even skipped at times.

Does it upset you that Hungary would rather face you in the quarter-finals than Norway?

It doesn't offend me because each team has its battle plan and maybe the Hungarian staff think they have more chances against us.

We have to respect that.

Afterwards, from experience - I've been playing for a few competitions - often when you do calculations like that, you get karma in your head on D-Day and you often find yourself losing.

Now if they beat us tomorrow that will mean their math was right and well done to them.

But yes, it stings us a little more and we want to beat them even more.

How do you see this Hungarian team, its strengths and possible weaknesses?

In a few words, I would say that it is an experienced and very physical team.

It's different from all the teams we've played before.

There are a lot of big guys, with very strong arms from afar, so you have to adapt.

While paying attention to their pivot (Bence Banhidi) who is in my eyes one of the best in the world today.

Hungary plays totally different from Portugal anyway.

“We are all pleasantly surprised by our journey.

Who would have told us a month ago that we would win our first six matches? ”

Did the match against Portugal remove the last doubts within the France team?

Personally, I had no real doubts after our complicated matches against Algeria, Switzerland or Iceland, because I knew we could do better.

But I am not completely reassured either after our very good match against Portugal.

I was the first to be surprised and happy with our quality of play in this match.

But I know that, like many teams, we can also fall back into our faults.

There are always doubts that are there, and that's why we work every day in training.

What was good after this match against Portugal was to see frank smiles in the locker room.

Such a match is good mentally.

But that's only one victory and the most important is yet to come.

Would reaching the last square set the record straight a year after the painful failure of the Euro (elimination in the first round)?

It is true that of the last squares, we lived a certain number of them… This World, we approached it differently, by our reconstruction and what happened a year ago at the Euro.

We are all pleasantly surprised by our journey.

Who would have told us a month ago that we would win our first six matches?

Now we must continue like this, with humility, walking on tiptoe to climb the ladder.    

How do you find the level of your defense at this World Cup?

I find it very efficient, and even monstrous in certain phases of the game. Especially during the match against Portugal, which we had prepared very well.

In defense, the most important moment is at the beginning because this is where we set the tempo, good or bad.

And against Portugal, we were very good at that level.

The Luka Karabatic-Ludovic Fabregas hinge does a colossal job.

To be in the bedroom with Ludo, I know he works a lot before matches to provide defensive support.

I'm glad it pays off.

And we know that the big championships are won first in defense.

"I'm not going to say that they no longer exist because that would be too much, but the Experts were before."

The staff has set up a game council within the France group.

Was it in preparation for this shift and can you tell us more about how it works?

Yes it did.

It brings a plus.

It doesn't revolutionize our handball, but it works well.

There is no reason to change a winning team (smile).

There is a group of players who discuss beforehand and who then bring solutions on the collective video.

Is it still relevant to keep the qualification of Experts to talk about the players of the France team?

It is probably time to move on.

This CSI era was extraordinary, but today there aren't many players who are still there.

And then I think that this nickname thing didn't interest the players too much when they dominated and today it interests us even less.

In any case, we, the players, have moved on.

I'm not going to say that they no longer exist because that would be too much, but CSI was before.

We're just rebuilding something, without a nickname and with humility.

Has Michaël Guigou changed with his role as captain?

I like to see Mika like that.

I knew him in this situation in Montpellier.

He is very motivated, he takes his role very seriously and it is very good for the team to have such an experienced player who shares it with others.

He has the right words in important moments.

And this armband gave it a little youthful touch to our Mika (smile).

Good for him and for us.

Are you starting to have the podium at this World Cup in the back of your mind?

No because there is this quarter-final to play.

Before, when we came out of the main round, we were directly in the semi-finals and then there, yes, obviously, we knew that we had three chances out of four to have a medal.

There, it is not the case, we are only in the quarterfinals and we have not done anything yet.

Winning against Portugal, as convincing as it is, will be of no use to us if we lose to Hungary.

The medal gate is still a long way off and it will mean a very strong performance in the quarterfinals.

The podium, you absolutely must not think about it for the moment.

You are still in a part of the table - Hungary then either Sweden or Qatar - to aim further…

Who had given that Qatar would be in the quarterfinals and not Croatia?

Do not underestimate any team.

Hungary are already very strong and we should not be based on their performance against Spain where they let the match slip away.

Today, I am unable to say whether Hungary is really less strong than Spain or Denmark.

Let's focus on Hungary first, and if all goes well, maybe we will face Sweden in the semi-finals…

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