Olympics: French handball players for a formidable pass of four

How many times have bad tongues announced the end of France's hegemony over world handball? The retirements of Thierry Omeyer and Daniel Narcisse certainly marked the end of a golden period, that of the famous Experts of which only three members remain today: Nikola Karabatic, Luc Abalo and Captain Michaël Guigou. But for the latter two, the Tokyo campaign will be the last of their long and successful international career. Still, even devoid of most of the players who made it famous by holding at one time the three crowns - Olympic, world and European - at the same time, the French team continues to reign at the top of the discipline. More on the first step, which Denmark most often tends to appropriate, but always on or near the podium.Especially when the Olympic rings point the tip of their nose.

To discover

• The full Olympic program

• The Olympic medal table

Thus, this Thursday, France will challenge Egypt with the objective of winning the final of the Games for the fourth time in a row.

In other words, the decline announced by some is only very relative.

Admittedly, the Blues are no longer experts, but they do not remain a reference on the world level, with young players who are reaching maturity like Dika Mem or Nedim Remili.

Above all, since the start of the competition, France has displayed a very attractive attacking face, which had not been the case in the last major competitions.

A real satisfaction for his coach, Guillaume Gille: “

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Another important aspect, France will leave favorite against the Egyptians, against whom it has not lost for more than ten, remaining in particular on five victories since 2011. Even if they have improved a lot in recent years, the African players - the first to reach a last Olympic square - will inevitably lack experience against the Blues who have therefore won their last three Olympic semi-finals. Above all, Egypt relies mainly on a very physical game, in particular with a very aggressive defense and also very energy intensive. It will be interesting to see what physical resources she still has at this stage of the competition. In any case, France should not miss the opportunity to replay an Olympic final, which could be a revenge for that of Rio against Denmark,if it gets rid of Spain in the other half.