In a match where the only stake was first place in the group, since the Bleues had already qualified for the quarter-finals before kick-off, the France team brilliantly dominated Russia (33-28), four months after beating the same team in the Olympic Games final.
This success which therefore allows the players of Olivier Krumbholz to finish at the top of their group I. As, in group II, Norway dominated the Netherlands (37-34) and Sweden beat Romania (34- 30), it is the Swedes who will be opposed to France, Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. in the quarter-finals.
Faced with the Russians, who have lost many executives since the Olympics (Makeeva, Sen, Vedekhina, Dmitrieva or Vyakhereva), only the first minutes of the Blue were sluggish, time for their rivals to lead by three goals (5-2) . But once the success on shots anchored among the French (69% in total), they began to unfold, with confidence and control, including placing a 6-0 to lead 10-6.
“It’s a formidable quarter-final that awaits us”
Olivier Krumbholz, France coach
With five goals ahead at the break for the teammates of Alison Pineau (5/8 shooting), who celebrated her 270th selection, the second period did not allow the Russians to reverse the trend. They never came back higher than -4. The only small negative point perhaps for the Blue, the number of goals conceded (28), the biggest total since the start of the competition.
“It was a very good match, appreciated the French coach. We saw some great things in attack, some great goals. We were solid in defense, we managed to decode their game well. And we were able to run, it’s really a beautiful evening. It’s a formidable quarter-final that awaits us. I hope we will play liberated. Sweden has been biding its time for years, we will be there, I hope, with the same commitment and the same serenity. “
French and Swedish have already faced each other twice at the Tokyo Olympic Games, in the main round (28-28) and in the semi-finals (29-27). The Krumbholz players aim in Spain for a double in the space of four months, which only Danes (1996) and Norwegians (2008) managed to achieve (at the time a European Championship).