Nikola Karabatic had her arms full in entrance of the bus that was alleged to take the French to Krakow. He calmly packed his issues and discovered time to talk. Inconvenient to go away your lodge in Katowice? Travel stress? Karabatic shrugged: “That’s proper.” Katowice, Krakow and then Stockholm. For a handball participant who has been via the whole lot, that is most likely no totally different. The 38-year-old Frenchman exhibits his colleagues the way to give attention to the second even in on a regular basis conditions.
has been stretching bones for greater than 20 years; He doesn’t obtain particular rights from expertise and revenue – he shops his and different individuals’s baggage in the compartments offered, like new recruits in the squad. Talking to German journalists on the bus will not be a punishment for him, however greeting outdated acquaintances. In wonderful German, by the approach. From 2005 to 2009, Karabatic performed for THW Kiel.
It exhibits professionalism. The complete nationwide crew, certainly the complete group, represents the exceptional achievements of the previous many years – will probably be their sixteenth quarter when the French meet Germany on Wednesday (Handball World Cup on FAZ and 20.30 on ZDF). – Participation in the finals of the World Championship one after the different. In 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017, they have been topped.
They are usually not fashionable, however they’re good
Given the flood of medals, it is not stunning that the angle of French handball gamers generally veers from self-assurance to conceitedness. Karabatić and Co. not fashionable in the handball scene. They are excellent at it. “When the reigning Olympic champions play for France, whoever’s on the subject, you go for the gold,” mentioned Handballwoche’s Dika Mem. There is quite a lot of hatred in direction of the Danes, who’ve twice not too long ago challenged them for the place of the greatest crew in the world. The German Handball Federation is generously praised however not thought to be a first-rate rival.
The ardour of the French is handed down from era to era; Karabatich is a messenger; Dika Mem emphasised how large his contribution was in the victory at the 2021 Olympics. At the affiliation’s headquarters at the “House of Handball” in Créteil, close to Paris, skills which are the envy of different nations have been growing for a very long time. The outdated guard round Karabatic, his brother Luka (34), playmaker Kentin Mahe (31) and goalkeeper Vincent Gerrard (36) have been typically talked about by the Swans. But they have been indispensable, and then got here professionals like Dika Mem, Ludovic Fabregas and Dylan Nakhi, all in their mid-twenties and enjoying for large golf equipment.
The French group does an excellent job of reuniting youngsters of immigrant dad and mom like Dika Mem. The left-hander has grow to be a particular participant. The complete squad has been signed by virtually all Champions League golf equipment, from Barcelona to Kielce to Paris Saint-Germain. And Thibaut Briet, 23, of HBC Nantes, the French have already discovered their Julian Koster in this match.
The query stays as to what function coach Guillaume Gill performed in the success. The 46-year-old former HSV Hamburg skilled took over from Didier Dinart after EM 2020. At the time, his assistant Gil was promoted to senior stage with out having beforehand coached the membership. Gil appears unassuming, the gamers hardly ever discuss him and he can hardly be mentioned to have signed a crew.
He can depend on the free play of the forces, as when the state of affairs wobbles, Mem will step up and throw the ball into the purpose, or Mahé will cooperate with two highly effective turns. Sometimes, nevertheless, it may be the Germans’ probability, with the French going over it with a free handball. Then everybody will do what they need. However, this was seen solely in the first recreation towards Poland in the World Cup – they arrived in time to win.
The French then went via the predominant spherical and did what they wanted to with a 28-26 win towards Spain on Sunday. Kentin Mahe, who beforehand performed for Dormagen, Gummersbach, Hamburg and Flensburg, assessed that his crew labored significantly, not confidently, at the World Cup. He smiled and mentioned he needed Germany in the ultimate. It will not occur anymore. You need to make it clear: it might be an enormous shock for the German crew to achieve the semi-finals towards the French on Friday.
.