As soon as the match against Sweden ended, Wednesday in Orléans (37-31), the Blues headed to Roissy to sleep near the airport in order to fly Thursday morning to Stavanger in Norway. The French team faces the Scandinavian selection this Saturday (6:15 p.m.) as part of the EHF Euro Cup. For the record, this tournament avoids playing simple friendly matches during this period. It brings together Sweden, Denmark and Norway, the three countries co-organizing Euro 2026 and France, the reigning European champion.
In Norway, the mission of Guillaume Gille‘s players is “simple”: confirm success against the Swedes by convincing themselves that the Olympic nightmare is part of the past. It will take time to heal the wound of the quarter-final elimination against Germany (35-34), but winning is the best way to heal yourself. “The performance against Sweden was quality,” thinks the coach. It was the first step in this reconstruction which is clearly not perfect but this performance was very encouraging with the state of mind that was there. For us, the most important thing was to build around strong commitment and the desire to make the ball live, to run a lot and to be tough in defense.”
“The book of the Games is closed collectively”
Usually, the Norwegians, who also fell in the quarterfinals at the Olympics despite former PSG star Sander Sagosen, are more successful against the French. The two nations could meet again in a few weeks at the World Championship co-organized at the end of January and beginning of February in Norway, Denmark and Croatia. This is the meeting that the French team is currently preparing for.
Adorning yourself with a 7th planetary crown (the first since 2017), even if three-time defending champion Denmark seems the clear favourite, would be the best way to put Paris 2024 definitively in the past. The Blues know this well. “The book of the Games is closed collectively. We are aware of the failure we experienced. We said things eye to eye. We are all responsible, the collective and the staff included, for this failure. The page is turned towards the World Cup and above all a new dynamic”, thinks Karl Konan who will be a member of PSG at the start of the 2025 school year.
The France team travels to Norway without Luka Karabatic sent back to PSG to rest nor Elohim Prandi (shoulder) and Kyllian Villeminot (foot) affected against Sweden. The latter two are seriously affected. Villemot suffers from a ruptured Achilles tendon and will probably not play again for the season. As for Prandi, his dislocated left shoulder should deprive him of the Worlds. A very hard blow for the Blues who called Romain Lagarde as reinforcement to play in Norway.
