Everything is still going well at Euro-2022 for the French hand team. In front of the modest Ukrainians (36-23) on Saturday in Szeged, in their second meeting of the competition, the Blues opened the door wide to the next round.
A success against Serbia on Monday will allow Guillaume Gille’s men to achieve a clear round in this first round in Hungary. The French can even afford a draw or a six-goal defeat to see Budapest and the main round. But this match against Serbia will above all be an opportunity to score as many points as possible, counted for the rest of the competition that the Blues had not reached in 2020.
Gilles rotates the workforce
Admittedly, after having dominated Croatia in the meeting in principle the most difficult of their group, the French advanced as huge favorites against an inexperienced Ukrainian team which has never beaten them in six games. The opportunity for Gille to rotate his workforce by leaving Nikola Karabatic at rest and highlighting the young generation, like Thibaud Briet.
Launched into the deep end after his first selection in a friendly against Germany, the Nantes player demonstrated his full potential at the height of his 22 years and 2m05 by scoring his first goal with the Blues shortly after his appearance. “The objective was to have fun, to have no regrets at the end of the match. I didn’t think I would come in so quickly, I’m very happy with what I produced, ”said the tricolor left-back with a big smile. Another smile, that of Romain Lagarde. Little in sight against Croatia, the Breton was elected man of the match, with his four achievements, including the first tricolor goal of the game.
Wesley Pardin, well in his cages
Already battered by Serbia at the opening of their Euro, the Ukrainians tried to keep their heads above water, sometimes thanks to the 10 saves of their goalkeeper Gennady Komok, sometimes by the flashes of Dmytro Horiha (7 goals). But the French left with a comfortable mattress of six goals at the break (17-11). And as if that weren’t enough, Horiha was sent off at the start of the second half (34th), leaving the Ukrainians helpless. The Blues then took the opportunity to take off, leading to 15 goals. Dylan Nahi (6 goals) and Melvyn Richardson (4) added to the success. Vincent Gérard (7 saves) was also able to delegate to Wesley Pardin, author of a second quality act (7/19) in the cage.
From now on, the France team will need even more seriousness to afford a 3/3 in front of Serbia. A match not to be taken lightly. “We need points”, recalled Guillaume Gille, “this group is still young and needs to take on thickness and all that accumulates with experience. This small final will be interesting for that ”. And also to take revenge: Serbia had beaten the Blues in January 2021 in qualifying for the Euro (24-27).
