It's an earthquake. The France house is nothing more than a field of ruins after the pitiful elimination Sunday evening at the Spektrum in Trondheim in Norway. Two days after the unthinkable defeat against Portugal (25-28), Didier Dinart's men failed to raise their heads against Norway (26-28) at home. The duel against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday will count for butter. This failure, unprecedented at the Euro, comes just over a month after the fiasco of the women's team, also eliminated from entry in its major pre-Olympic competition, the World Cup in Japan.
Two years ago, France was world champion in men and women. The future looked bright. With six months to go before the Tokyo Games, the euphoria gave way to worry. Which raise many questions.
Was the Norwegian quack predictable?
YES. It is the first time in a long time that the Blues have presented themselves without a title at the start of a great competition. Arrived full of doubts, they failed to enter against Portugal. Against Norway, the reigning vice-world champion, they were already on the brink. And the evil seemed too deep ... "Faced with the host country, it was not an obvious match to play, defends coach Didier Dinart. We tried our best. It is no one's fault. "
Are the players free from any reproach?
NO. How can we be so good in a club - in Barcelona, at PSG - and so insignificant in the national team? This is the observation made by Bertrand Gille, double Olympic champion and younger brother of Guillaume, Dinart's assistant. “We have individual services generally below what is expected of them. There are not many people who have fared well. On the two defeats, no one escapes this observation. "
Is there a problem between the coach and his group?
YES. Asked after the defeat at the microphone of BeIN Sports, Nikola Karabatic was enigmatic. "Is it a coach problem?" Wonders the best player in the world. It is not a topical theme, nor even a subject to be discussed on TV. The embarrassment of one of the leaders of the France group seems to prove that there is a problem between Dinart, who took office in 2016, and his group.
Is it possible to change the selector after this failure?
IN THEORY YES. Which coach who would lead the best nation in the world would escape such a failure? No one, unless you consider it an accident. "That's what I think," says Bertrand Gille. It will come back in order and we will qualify for the Olympic Games. Sometimes it is difficult to explain the reasons. We are in the factual. ". On RMC, President Joël Delplanque did not question Dinart. “You want to know if my confidence in the coach will eventually be called into question. The answer is no, ”he said.
Should we be worried about the future?
YES. France, which remains on seven participations in a row at the Olympic Games, has only one possibility to validate its ticket to Tokyo. It will be at home, from April 17 to 19 at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, where it will have to finish in one of the first two places of a four-person tournament with notably Croatia. “We are not immune to an industrial accident, admits Bertrand Gille. Yes, I am worried but I keep my confidence in the strength of this team. "
Has the France team already experienced such a delicate period?
YES. In 2012, France was eliminated in the main round of the Euro, in Serbia. "At the time, it was said that the team was aging," recalls Gille. That everything had to be changed. And we had dismantled everything afterwards (sic) . Olympic champion six months later in London, the Experts had silenced the critics. Can history repeat itself? This is the challenge for the next three months ...