Seeing the Swiss selection invade the field and celebrate their draw (26-26) like a European champion title said a lot, this Sunday in Berlin, about the poor performance of the Blues during this Euro handball 2024. So that the German host country quietly qualified for the main round by dominating North Macedonia (34-25), after putting on an impressive “Nati” dance (27-14), the French team Life is damn complicated.
Like their veteran center half Andy Schmid, capable of delighting with 12 assists in total at the age of 40, the Swiss completely surprised Guillaume Gille’s group, unable to confirm their convincing initial success against the North Macedonia (39-29). The reigning Olympic champions certainly have the cards in hand to join the main round, since only a defeat of more than 13 goals against Germany on Tuesday (8:30 p.m.) would prevent them from continuing the adventure. But this is still not the best way to approach deadlines, as Ludovic Fabregas agrees.
“Not having won this match is a bit of a blow to our morale,” recognizes the French pivot. We still have our destiny in our hands against Germany but it’s a real wake-up call. It could be a booster shot, and if it launches us even better into this Euro, so much the better. But if this is the start of something that creaks a little, that would be damaging. » Especially when you have to plan for the Olympic Games at home…