Euro 2024 handball: a decimated MHB with nine players summoned for the competition

Le Suédois Pellas, l’un des neuf Montpelliérains présents à l’Euro. MTI – Tamas Kovacs

Nine MHB players will participate in Euro 2024 in Germany. Patrice Canayer, the coach, oscillates between two feelings: the satisfaction of seeing them leave and the fear of finding them injured.

Patrice Canayer, who has seen others during his long career as coach of Montpellier Handball – thirty years old, it should be remembered –, had to rub his eyes last Thursday when training resumed.

"I don’remember finding such a decimated team", explains the technician, confronted that day with the harsh reality. Between the injured (Arthur Lenne, Adrien Dubois, Kyllian Villeminot, Ahmed Hesham) and the internationals who had gone wandering, only three professionals (Stas Skube, Jaime Fernandez and Alexis Berthier) were still on deck.

Unsurprisingly, the MHB pays a heavy price at the European Championship in Germany. In total, nine boys are involved in this competition, which will begin on January 10 in Düsseldorf: the French Valentin Porte, Yanis Lenne, Karl Konan, Rémi Desbonnet and Charles Bolzinger ; the Swedes Sebastian Karlsson and Lucas Pellas ; the Croatian Veron Nacinovic ; and the Bosnian Marko Panic. "If you add Diego Simonet with Argentina and Bryan Monte with Brazil…", the cup is full.

In Nantes to see the Blues

From Nantes, where he attended the last preparation match for the Blues on Saturday, Patrice Canayer said he was divided by his feelings. "On the one hand, I am very proud of this situation. We work all year round to help the boys progress and see them leave. On the other hand, we tremble because we don’t know in what state we will find them. Injury is always possible, the coach worries.

This uncertainty bothers Canayer so much that he constantly postpones the signing of a joker to compensate for the absences of his two left-backs, Kyllian Villeminot and Ahmed Hesham.

"Imagine that one of our goalkeepers farts", he said on December 19, at the end of the last day of the championship before the break. The Montpellier leaders have not finished trembling. The Euro final is scheduled for January 28. Until then, the two files currently on President Julien Deljarry's desk will surely remain on stand-by.

Patrice Canayer took advantage of his time in Nantes to prepare for the arrival of the French team in Montpellier in March, with two matches on the program against Argentina and the African champion.