It took a little time to get started but the Blues, world champions, easily beat Slovenia (35-20) this Thursday evening in Velenje in a qualifying match for the next European Championship.
This success, expected and predictable, already officially validates the qualification of the French team for the next Euro, which will take place at the end of the year (November 28-December 17), in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland.
This obviously doesn't surprise anyone: it's been more than a quarter of a century since Les Bleues have missed this biannual meeting.
In Slovenia, Olivier Krumbholz's girls took just 20 minutes to warm up the machine before rolling out in sometimes impressive fashion.
Solid, serious and diligent, the Blues ended up making short work of the Slovenians whom they had already beaten at the last World Cup (31-27).
VICTORY !
🇸🇮 20-35 🇫🇷
Excellent second period for the BLEUES who win against the Slovenes and who already qualify for the EHF EURO 2024 💪🔥
See you on Sunday in Orléans for a new confrontation between these two nations 🇫🇷⚡🇸🇮#BleuetFier pic.twitter.com/TmrTDk58K8
— French Handball Teams (@FRAHandball) February 29, 2024
The return match will take place on Sunday (5 p.m.), in Orléans, and we already pity the Slovenes in the face of the punishment that awaits them again.
They only scored one goal in the last 12 minutes of the game.
The hardest part will be selecting the 14 for the Games
Two months after their coronation, the world champions have not let their guard down.
They were efficient, almost perfect even if the opponent was hardly formidable.
This is good news for the coach.
Not for the girls who are not part of this group: for them, the door to the Games is almost closed.
We think of the glorious former Cléopâtre Darleux, Béatrice Edwige or Allison Pineau who have not worn the jersey since Euro 2022 for the first two and the 2021 World Cup for the third.
Edwige and Pineau no longer seem to be part of the coach's plans, who is waiting for his Olympic champion goalkeeper to return to the field after a year without playing due to concussions.
But how can we dislodge one of the world champions now?
Barring injury before the Olympic selection, announced on July 5, this seems unlikely.
Krumbholz's choice will instead be to remove girls from the group.
He will have to choose 14 players (and three substitutes) from among the eighteen world champions.
One – probably one of the three guardians – will not make the adventure and three others will have to wait at home for a last minute defection.
His hardest choice may be this one.