Admittedly, the Golden League does not have much sporting interest.
The French Federation, anxious to protect its players from hellish rates, has also decided that the 2021 edition will be the last in which its men's national team will participate.
Still, there is a certain standard to be ensured, especially when you are an Olympic champion.
In Trondheim (Norway), Guillaume Gille chose to field a rejuvenated team without its main executives (Nikola and Luka Karabatic, Nedim Remili, among others).
Consequence: the Blues have logically suffered (26-31) the law of Denmark, double reigning world champion and finalist in Tokyo.
🇫🇷 26⚡31 🇩🇰
The Blues bow against Denmark!
đź”› Meet tomorrow, 4:45 p.m., facing Norway. # BleuetFier #GoldenLeague #FRADAN pic.twitter.com/aW0l8kf8SM
- French Handball Teams (@FRAHandball) November 6, 2021
What you must remember
For his big debut as a new captain, Valentin Porte had the difficult task of giving confidence to all those players who are not used to wearing the blue tunic.
For about twenty minutes, Yanis and Arthur Lenne, Karl Konan, Julien Bos and Théo Monar go the distance (8-9).
The rest is much more difficult.
Heavily sanctioned, the French team regularly stumbles on Nantes' Emil Nielsen, one of the best in the French championship, and Denmark flies away (11-18, 13-19 at the break)
Back from the locker room, France returns with better intentions and takes advantage of the downturn of the Danes.
The defense tightens and KĂ©vin Bonnefoi in his cages finally finds the rhythm.
The gap is reduced (21-25) but Denmark, deprived in particular of Mikkel Hansen, obviously did not digest the defeat in the Olympic final (22-30).
The end of the meeting is to the advantage of the French.
The player: Elohim Prandi
A little over two years ago, the left-back of PSG knew his first selection for the French team on the occasion of the first stage of the 2019-2020 Golden League.
Deprived of the last Worlds in January in Egypt, the former Nîmes returned this fall, a consequence of his good start to the season with the French champion.
After opening his personal score just before the break (and causing the final exclusion of Antonsen), the Parisian did the job, like Benoît Koukoud and Dylan Nahi.
Insufficient, but encouraging.
The number: 2
Victorious (31-28) from Norway the day before, Denmark confirms before playing the Netherlands.
For France, a new mountain presents itself this Sunday with Norway (4:45 p.m.).
The opportunity to gain a little more confidence before the December rally, the last rehearsal for the Euro which will take place January 13 to 30 in Hungary and Slovakia.