It’s not the final we expected. We wanted the big one against Norway but Denmark decided otherwise. This Sunday at 3:15 p.m., we will therefore have to settle for the small final, the one to win the bronze medal which, despite good intentions, no one really wants to play. It’s the meeting of the losers from the day before yesterday.
A victory against Hungary will undoubtedly console the France team. This would be the fourth bronze medal in its history in a Euro after those of 2002, 2006 and 2016. However, it will not make this end-of-year 2024 epic unforgettable. In the history books and on the pages Wikipedia, this handball Euro, if you are French, will only be entitled to a few lines that are quickly forgotten. The “real” final would have had the honors of TF1 at a perfect time (6 p.m.) in front of millions of French people. The hearing against Hungary (on beIN Sports) will be more confidential. It’s unfair but that’s how it is.
“Want to go get this medal”
A year almost to the day after the world title, it’s about wrapping up an extraordinary year with the emotion of the Olympic Games in the middle. There is no secret to achieving this: the Blues must digest the hangover imposed by their bad match against the Danes. Easier to write than to do, obviously, because you have to forget a night from Friday to Saturday without sleep, the legs which seem more tired after a defeat and the stronger desire to go home to cuddle your loved ones.
“I was tired but my brain didn’t stop working. There’s this thing of not wanting to sleep because the first thought upon waking up was damn we lost » confided Grace Zaadi on Saturday morning during the press conference imposed by the EHF, the European federation. Unlike others like Tamara Horacek, she refused to watch the semi-final again to analyze it: “I didn’t want to avoid a sleepless night or have a tachycardia. »
The coach Sébastien Gardillou imposed this torture on himself from dawn. “We look at what didn’t work, what can be changed in the very short term to be able to engage in the best possible way in this quest for a bronze medal,” slips the new boss of the Bleues who had set the objective his troops qualify for the semi-finals. The goal is therefore achieved even if there is a not very pleasant aftertaste.
“It would be really sad to go home without this positive finality, without the bronze medal,” confirms goalkeeper Hatadou Sako. A speech taken up by Chloé Valentini. “We’ve been together for a month, we’ve been working for a month, I think the girls next to me want to get this medal, and for the new staff too,” insists Messina.
Reunion with Hungary
The Blues, at the end of an extraordinary year, have been together, far from their family for days. To avoid making this “nice time” as Gardillou says, useless, you must not return empty-handed from Vienna. We must also not relive the nightmare of two years ago during the previous Euro. In Slovenia, France also lost in the semi-final, against Sweden. Without motivation, she then lost the small final against Montenegro.
“We had an average match while the French team cannot afford it,” remembers Gardillou who was then Olivier Krumbholz’s assistant. France cannot make the same mistake again. Especially against a team that she meets for the fourth time in a month after two preparation matches and another in group play last Tuesday. “It’s super important not to leave empty-handed,” insists Laura Glauser. We find Hungary, which we already beat a few days ago. We will work and move forward. » For one last challenge in 2024 before meeting again in a year to defend the world title.