Handball World Cup: the Blue pass a good test against Slovenia

This is already a good thing: by beating Angola on Friday in the opening (30-20), the Blue Olympic champions have already qualified for the second round of the Women's World Championship which takes place in Spain.

During the first phase, the 32 teams of the field are gathered in 8 pools of four nations and the first three of each group qualify for the second phase. It is therefore enough to win a match to go further. Frankly, against Angola therefore but also Slovenia and Montenegro, nobody was really worried about the fate of the Blue: “At the end of a very good start and except disaster in fact, we qualified for the continuation and that is already a good thing ”, rejoices the coach Olivier Krumbholz. Two years ago in Japan during the previous World Cup, the French were eliminated at the end of this first round and it was messy. Already, this quack is fixed.

📊 Solid against Angola, the Blue could count on an active trio.

📖 @laura_glauser recited his lesson!

📐 L. Granier was almost perfect in choosing his angles.

📌 P.Foppa has been in combat.

📷 @ffhandball / @julianschlosser #BleuetFier #Sheloveshandball pic.twitter.com/JI0wTCNBn1

- French Handball Teams (@FRAHandball) December 4, 2021

Now, of course, we should not stop there. We know that this first round is (almost) a formality for the French women who will play again this Sunday against Slovenia (6 p.m., live on TMC and BeInsport), still in Granollers in the north of Barcelona. And this World Cup which will end on December 19 is a long-distance race: "We still have room for improvement and we will have to progress quickly, since it settled down well in the pool, with two teams who left for the top (France and Slovenia) and two parts down (Angola, Montenegro) ”, underlines Krumbholz. Slovenia, which arrives, is undoubtedly the most formidable opponent of its players in this first phase.

On Friday, against a diminished Montenegro team, Slovenia made a strong impression, led by their three world-class full-backs with Ana Gros, Elizabeth Omoregie and Tjasa Stanko. And goalkeeper Amra Pandzic repelled the Montenegrin offensive with 14 saves (54%). Be careful, therefore: "The rear base is substantial so if in addition we make the goalkeeper shine, as was the case in 2017, that can do a lot", the coach is wary. At the head of a team already crowned in 2003 and 2017, Krumbholz remembers the entry setback against Slovenia (24-23) during the 2017 World Cup, a competition that the French had therefore finally won.

Among the Slovenes, the danger will come from a former player of the French Championship. With six goals on the clock in less than 30 minutes of play, Ana Gros made use of her left arm on Friday. Should we reduce Slovenia to the former player of Metz and Brest? "It's too reductive, but it's one of the keys to winning this match," said Estelle Nze Minko.

A year ago at Euro 2020, the French had muzzled the left-hander of CSKA Moscow (4/11) and had imposed 10 goals (27-17) in the first round, already.

Since then, the Blues have won the Olympic gold medal at the end of a tournament that Slovenia did not play.

Despite all the usual precautions, France should therefore remain undefeated this Sunday.

Even if the Bleues heal a few injuries (crutch for Béatrice Edwige in particular), a success would make it possible to approach the main round with at least two points on the clock.