The French handball players, with the return in the blue jersey of Nikola Karabatic, imposed themselves on the wire against Egypt (31-30) for their first preparation match for the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-August 8), Monday in Paris.
After a few days of rest, the French handball players will meet in Créteil at the Maison du Handball on July 10 and will take the direction of Japan on July 12.
Before starting the Games, they will face Japan on July 18 in Koshu and Denmark in Tokyo on July 21.
Monday in Coubertin, the room traditionally used by Paris SG Hand, the Blues found their audience more than a year after their last performance in front of their supporters, and put in sequences a great defensive intensity, around the duo Luka Karabatic and Ludovic Fabregas. “It was a very good test, they made life difficult for us and we had to work hard. We left them balloons. I also want to retain the public's feedback, that's handball, ”said coach Guillaume Gille, satisfied with the response of his players after a first heavy physical workload for two weeks at Créteil. “The team reacted well,” he said.
The French escaped at the start of the last quarter of an hour of play (27-23), but saw the Egyptians come back three minutes from time (30-27). The French finally pulled away thanks to goals from Hugo Descat, Luka Karabatic and Valentin Porte, then benefited from a seven-meter throw granted by the referee to the buzzer and transformed by Kentin Mahé on a superb roucoulette. “We managed to get back to forceps and energy. A lot of happiness and pride ”, commented Nikola Karabatic at the microphone of beIN Sports. At 37, the star of the French hand made his return with the France team, after a serious injury (rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of the right knee) in mid-October with the PSG.