Finals of the World Cup after their victory against Sweden

Finals of the World Cup after their victory against Sweden

Falling from a solid Swedish formation (33-30), the French handball players have validated their ticket for the semifinals of the World Cup in an incredible atmosphere, Tuesday at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium. They will face Slovenia or Qatar on Thursday night (20.45). The match: If the French team had already faced several major opponents since the start of the World Cup (Norway, Iceland), it had never Against an outsider as serious as Sweden, better attack of the competition and just emerging from a demonstration of strength to Belarus (41-22) in the round of 16. So she had to approach her watch with all the more caution because the World Cup had cut the heads of two juniors, Denmark (Olympic champion) and Germany (European champion) in the previous round, pushing Philippe Gardent to present this Encounter as "a final before time". She had the level and the intensity.Film of the matchLeaving the lessons of his start of game pushive against Iceland, the team of France put a lot of application in the first moments of the meeting, Attacked the first four goals of the Blues (4-4, 7th), they created a first break (10-8, 10-5) in the wake of Ludovic Fabregas, sparkling in the first quarter of an hour (4/4). Lukas Nilsson (5/8), who allowed the Swedes to return to the level of the Blues (13-13, 24th) ... then, carried by a succession of stops of Mikael Appelgren, to take the controls at half-time (15-16, 30th). Tested in their pride, the French realized as usual a big start of the second period (20-18, 37th) thanks to a more aggressive defense And to the infernal address of Kentin Mahé at the seven meters (see elsewhere). But with the Swedish youth already impressively mature, the yellow wave returned shortly after (24-25, 45th), pushed by Jim Gottfridsson (7/9). It is this moment, crucial, that chose the left arm of Nedim Remili (6/8) to do its usual damage. Accompanied by a few stops of Vincent Gerard and two decisive goals of Daniel Narcisse, the Blues took the lead (30-27, 54th). They will not let themselves be resumed. The players of the title will be in Paris, where they will face on Thursday the winner of the duel Slovenia-Qatar for a place in the final. The player: Kentin MahéPetit-son of a Swedish, Kentin Mahé knows Scandinavian handball well, Coaches a coach and five yellow and blue players in his club Flensburg. This Tuesday, propelled holder to the left wing, the Parisian of birth realized an exceptional match (9/10), the best of its World. He was particularly decisive in scoring four goals in a penalty kick at the beginning of the second half, while the Blues, led, were not at best. His coolness (7/7 to 7 meters) propelled his team to the lead, then held them in the game ten minutes from the end. In the first half, Didier Dinart chose to replace the Alsatian by Vincent Gérard in the 25th minute of the game. Well done to him: Vincent Gérard, number oneDiscovered by the performance of Thierry Omeyer (2 saves on 15 shots) The usual number two of the Blues changed the game, realizing two big sequences, at the beginning and the end of the second period, and pushing nine Swedish shots in total. If only one stoppage had to be taken: the one reached in the 48th minute of play, thus preventing the Scandinavians to take two goals in advance. The scenario of the match would probably have been turned upside down.

Source: Yahoo