By winning against Sweden (31-26) Wednesday night in Granollers (Spain), the Blue climbed into the last four of the 2021 World Cup, where the Olympic champions from Tokyo will face Denmark in the semi-finals on Friday. Since the start of the tournament, which comes barely four months after the Games, the French have given the impression of gaining momentum. “We knew it was going to be hard, engaged, exciting, tiring and exhausting, we knew there was the semi-final at the end,” said captain Coralie Lassource.
It is therefore a real good habit, taken since the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, that the players of Olivier Krumbholz have confirmed in Spain: they reached for the seventh time (out of eight possible) the semi-finals, that this either at the Olympics, at the Euro or at the World Cup. And on the first six experiences in the last four, they always came home with a medal in the end.
“The French like to see this team win”
“The recipe is hard work, commitment, fighting spirit,” explains the coach. It’s a very ambitious, very combative team, and when you come to games as important as this, there is a form of intransigence in the investment which perhaps gives them that little extra something. There are real leaders who also provide reassurance through their commitment and competence. A team that made people talk about it like that, it arouses enthusiasm and from that moment on, the French like to see this team win. It puts pressure on the team and the management. “
Coralie Lassource’s teammates are pursuing the dream of achieving an international double in the space of four and a half months, which only the Danes (1996) and the Norwegians (2008) have managed to achieve in the past (double JO-Euro at the ‘era). For a place in the final, the French will approach the second stage of their Scandinavian journey against Denmark, undefeated since the start of the tournament just like the Blue ones, and which arrives at this fresh world championship since they did not compete in the Games in Tokyo.
The last clash between French and Danish women in official competition dates back to Euro 2020. Les Bleues won 23-20 in the first round, opening the door to the last four. “There are two games left to go for the gold. We are not going to hide it, we want to win this medal. I hope that will do it, that we will succeed and that we will be happy at the end, ”concludes the French captain.
