“Of course we want to win this competition,” said Guillaume Gilles, the coach of the French team at a press conference yesterday before facing North Macedonia this evening at 6 p.m. A match which will take place in the Esprit Arena, the football stadium of the Dusseldorf team in Germany, with a capacity of 55,000 seats. For ten years and the victory in 2014 against Denmark in the final, the Euro has resisted France but this year the Blues are well equipped to win the competition. “We have a team to go for the title” believes Nikola Karabatic.
The reaction of coach Guillaume Gilles
“It was an opening match for the tournament against a team we don’t know very well and who gave us a hard time. What I remember is that we dictated the good and the bad moments a bit. of this meeting. A first half where we had a lot of waste but despite everything we rotated with a nice advantage. Over time with our rotations, the physical difference is illustrated and we take the lead more widely. In the end it “It’s a match where we are not worried and which allowed the whole group to be able to enter the competition.”
Ludovic Fabregas’ reaction
“Today, we had a good match! It was important to gain confidence, no matter how it happened and I think that this gap of ten goals is the biggest gap we have had in the match so we can be satisfied with this small increase in power.”
The reaction of Hugo Descat, the player of the match
“Very nice victory! It was important to win above all. We know that the first matches in competitions are very delicate so we did the job, that’s the most important thing! Now we have four days to prepare Switzerland. What we remember this evening is the victory”
End of the match! 39-29.
After a lackluster first half, the Blues did not force themselves in the second half to get rid of the valiant Macedonians.
60′ Richardson, recovers the ball and scores one more goal. 39-29.
60′ Fast French attack, Prandi serves Mahé and he hits hard into the small Macedonian net. 38-29.
58′ Macedonia reduces the score with a 7m throw. 37-28.
57′ Interception by Nahi, again, who ends up in the empty goal. Ten goals ahead! 37-27.
56′ What work from Nahi. After recovering a harmless ball, he goes from one to two and performs a coo to eliminate the goalkeeper. 36-27.
55′ Quentin Mahé alone, not attacked, in his act beats the Macedonian goalkeeper. 35-26.
54′ What a match from the pivot Peshevski. Seventh goal for him. 33-26.
53′ Prandi shoots with a rebound and squares the opposing goalkeeper. 33-25.
51′ Ball recovered near his goal line by Mahé who shoots directly, the ball rolls to the empty goal. 32-25.
49′ The Macedonian left winger, well found, curls his shot and overtakes the French goalkeeper. 30-24.
48′ Kounkoud serves at the post, turns around and adjusts the Macedonian goalkeeper. 30-23.
47′ Nahi recovers the ball on his wing after a shot on the post. By carrying out his idea, he passes between two defenders and increases the score. 29-22.
46′ What a counter and what a shot from Lazarevski. Macedonia returns to six goals. 28-22.
45′ After a Macedonian timeout, the game resumes. Despite a goal from the “Rouge et Jaune”, the French left winger completed a nice shift. 28-20.
44′ Nicolas Tournat served in the post by Remili, scores his 201st goal with France. The French are rolling out. 27-19.
42′ What a fixation from Karabatic, to cross and shift Nem who finishes by fixing the goalkeeper while he was in the air. 26-19.
41′ After a Kung-Fu which finds the post, Nikola Karabatic delicately scores in the empty goal. 25-18.
40′ Nicolas Tournat passes the 200 goal mark for the Blues. 24-18.
40′ Mitev finds the gap and finishes the job. 23-18.
39′ Remili works with his support and takes his responsibilities. 23-17.
38′ Following some good work from Peshevski, Bolzinger makes a fabulous save with his foot during a 7m throw. 22-17.
37′ Once again the Macedonian pivot finds the fault in the French defense. 21-17.
36′ After good defense and a ball recovered in their camp game, Nahi goes to goal. 21-16.
35′ The Blues take it easy and lose a few balls at the start of the second half. Dylan Nahi served against gives France a five-goal lead. 20-15.
34′ Belle passes on the right side for Kounkoud who worsens the score. 19-14.
33′ Hugo Descat, scores a 7m throw. 18-14.
32′ Despite a first save from Bolzinger, the Macedonians recover the ball and attack. A well-played 4 against 3 allows the Balkan countries to reduce the gap. 17-14.
31′ The French begin. It’s up to them to consolidate this advantage going into the second half. 17-13.
Half time.
After a difficult start to the match, the Blues got their heads back together and headed into the locker room in the lead at the break.
30′ To close this first period, Prandi and Richardson perform a Kung-Fu. 17-13 at halftime.
30′ Kuzmanovski suddenly shoots from afar and the ball goes into the goal. 16-13.
29′ Another good defensive performance, Richardson goes to goal and adjusts the “red and yellow” goalkeeper. 16-12.
29′ After a long action without a goal and without big chances, the defenses take precedence over the attacks. It’s been four minutes since Macedonia scored.
26′ Following a slow attack, the Blues find the fault through Prandi. 15-12.
24′ After a good defense, Prandi goes on the counter and sends a praline into the top corner and gives the Blues some air. The Macdonians who no longer score ask for a time-out. 14-11.
22′ After a magnificent move, Descat finds himself alone on the wing and worsens the score. 13-11.
20′ What a point-blank save from Desbonnet. On the attack which follows Fabregas plants his 298th goal for the Blues. 12-10.
19′ Well shifted to the left wing, Descat strikes and scores despite the fact that the goalkeeper intervenes. 11-10.
16′ Valentin Porte superbly shifted on his right wing, finishes. 10-10.
15′ Overwhelmed, Guillaume Gilles decides to take a time-out! For the moment the Macedonian goalkeeper manages to stop most of the French attacks.
15′ Remili comes up against Mitrevski. Kuzmanovski gives Macedonia a two-goal lead. 8-10.
14′ New save from Mitrevski. This is already the 6th stop for the Macedonian goalkeeper. The Macedonian pivot puts them in front by wrapping around L.Karabatic. 9-8.
13′ Rémy Desbonnet intervenes for the first time. He then had to break after a shot from Kuzmanovski into the top corner. 8-8.
12′ Karabatic works his defender, he serves Nem who hits hard with the left. 8-7.
11′ Great counter, Nem crosses the field to allow the French team to equalize. 7-7.
10′ The Macedonian goalkeeper makes three saves in a row. The ball comes back to Descat who adjusts it. 6-6.
9′ The Macedonian pivot Pechevski, well served in his position, adjusts the French goalkeeper. On the action after Valentin Porte sees his shot stopped by the downpour goalkeeper. 5-5.
8′ The match accelerates. Fabregas finds the opening. 5-4.
6′ France uses rapid attacks. Unfortunately on this one, Karabatic finds the bar. 4-3.
5′ After a good defense, a great French counter sees Fabregas adjust the opposing goalkeeper. 4-2.
4′ Descat well served on the wing worsens the score. 3-2.
4’After a quick action, Nem concludes and France takes the lead. 2-1.
3′ Descat reduces the score with a 7m throw. 1-1.
2′ First goal of this Euro by the Macedonians via the “red and yellow” pivot. 1-0.
1′ The first two shots miss for both teams. North Macedonia ball. 0-0
6:00 p.m. Kick-off
The Macedonians start the match.
5:57 p.m. It’s time for hymns
The Denes nad Makedonija and the Marseillaise resound in the stadium usually used for football!
5:53 p.m. Warm atmosphere in Dusseldorf
90% filling. The Düsseldorf arena is almost full even though 55,000 seats were available. Huge record for a handball match.
5:50 p.m. A well-established Macedonian game
Kyril Lazarov was a fan of the 7-on-6 game: he seeks to reproduce it with his players. The pivots are solid, left-back Taleski is recognized on the international scene. Kumanoski is a quality centre-half with, also alongside him, right-back Velkoski. The team relies on several players who play with Pelister in the Champions League and therefore have international experience.
5:45 p.m. Lazarov, the Macedonian star became a coach
At 43, Kiril Lazarov, who passed through Nantes, is still the star of the small Balkan nation but he now occupies another role. He swapped the yellow and red tunic for the coach’s costume.
5:40 p.m. France as favorite
With a usual team, the French must enter the competition well. Undefeated against North Macedonia with 4 victories in a row, the Blues want to mark the occasion directly by winning the match in the best possible way.
5:35 p.m. Here is the French composition
A 7 without surprise. For the little anecdote, Valentin Porte, former Toulouse resident, is the holder.
5:30 p.m. Welcome to you all
Welcome to this live to follow live commentary on the entry into the Euro 2024 of the French men’s handball team against North Macedonia. Kick-off 6:00 p.m.