The worst part about an empty room and a closed-door game is that there is nothing and no one to comfort you.
Not a supporter, a loved one, or a shoulder to lay your head on and dry your eyes on.
Sadness is lonely.
In the huge deserted Arena in Cairo, the Blues expressed regret and frustration after a failed match against Sweden (26-32).
“This loss hurts because we were not at the level we expected of ourselves.
We have not been able to deliver what we are capable of, ”regrets coach Guillaume Gille.
The French team was eliminated in the semi-final of the World Championship by a beautiful, young and dashing Scandinavian team.
Without energy and inspiration, the blue force has never been able to shake the Scandinavian rock.
“This may be the first time I've played a game where we give up long before the end, ten minutes before.
Very clearly, the Swedes were better than us.
I'm not going to blame anyone, it was a general service, ”plague veteran Luc Abalo.
The sanction is irrevocable.
We dreamed though
"Is a dream a lie if it does not come true?"
Says a song.
In any case, it is painful.
Because yes, we dreamed and the shower is all the more icy.
These Blues, who left from nowhere when they landed in the land of the Pharaohs, had ended up making us dream.
Better: they too began to persuade themselves.
A seventh world title to succeed the “Barjots”, “Strong” and other “Experts”, their glorious predecessors, had once again become possible.
And then patatras!
Sweden has been there and it is she who will seek a fifth world crown on Sunday, the first since 1999.
Not everything is to be thrown away, on the contrary.
This would be forgetting in what condition the Egyptian campaign began: with zero certainty, no collective experience, a year after a nightmarish Euro ended in 14th place, without the charismatic leader Nikola Karabatic and with a coach with a limited CV.
Despite this, the tricolor handball sees a ray of sunshine sent by the Egyptian god Ré.
"We struggled a lot and we are showing a new face," says Dika Mem, the Barcelonan.
Before going for a bronze medal, the 12th charm in a World Cup since 1993, the Blues reassured, reassured themselves and will leave the banks of the Nile reassured.
“This team is writing another page, analyzes Philippe Gardent, Toulouse coach and consultant for the TF1 group.
With a lot of players who were already there, we are building a new team with a different mentality, a new impetus and it's very interesting.
"
Eyes now on Tokyo
After trying to complete the job this Sunday against Spain defeated (33-35) by Denmark in the other semi-final, Guillaume Gille's men will quickly find harsh reality.
The French double Olympic champions (2008-2012) are still not qualified for the Tokyo Games next summer.
Under penalty of starting again at zero point, the validation of their ticket for the Japanese capital will go through a qualifying tournament organized in Montpellier from March 12 to 14 with two places at stake. Portugal, Croatia and Tunisia will have to be beaten there. missed their World Cup.
“There is a solid base in this group that will attack TQO in a very positive way.
with a capital very different from that which it had barely a month after Serbia ”, positive Jérôme Fernandez the double Olympic champion.
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The Blues, arriving at the Hérault stopover crowned with a world bronze medal (the fifth in 30 years), would immediately impose.
"We have to go back to the fight, find the energy so that this last meeting allows us to free ourselves, to validate this beautiful course with a positive note and a medal", insists Guillaume Gille.