REPLAY. France-Denmark: The Blues martyred by the Danes for their return to the Paris 2024 Olympics

Mem and the Blues have a hard time against Arnoldsen and the Danes. MAXPPP – MARTIN DIVISEK

Karabatic et Hansen, les deux légendes du handball jouent leur dernière danse. MAXPPP – GEORGI LICOVSKI

L’équipe de France de handball masculine a manqué son entrée dans les Jeux Olympiques lors de sa confrontation de prestige face au Danemark (29-37), ce samedi 27 juillet dans l’Arena Sud Paris 6.

Bitter start

To get into the competition, there's nothing better than a clash against your best enemy to get you in the thick of the competition. The team coached by Guillaume Gille really enjoyed this first match. With an appetite for a good quarter of an hour, the Blues then had indigestion caused by the backs Gidsel and Pytlick (11 goals each) and the tireless Hansen (6 goals) and the entry of Landin (15 saves at 45%).

On the French side, the satisfaction comes from Descat who was valuable on the wing (2/3) and on 7m throws (4/4). The goalkeepers did not shine (9 saves between them) and the defense was overwhelmed. The work axes are laid out before the next match against Norway on Monday.

A match to relive here:

22h36.

End of the match: France 29 – 37 Denmark

Overwhelmed by the intensity put in by Denmark's rear base, the French slowly dropped the pace in the second half to finally lose largely against the Danes.

22h33.

59e

Pytlick increases the score a little more (29-37). The Blues seem to have lowered the flag for a few minutes. Mem's last shot is off target.

22h32.

58e

Loss of the ball and Saugstrup pushes the ball into the empty net (28-36). Karabatic serves Fabregas well as a pivot who deceives Landin (29-36).

10:30 p.m.

57e

Mem breaks away to find space and score a goal (28-34) but the quick engagement allows Gidsel to put a goal in the empty net (28-35).

10:29 p.m.

56e

Descat is found on his left wing, his shot goes towards Landin's face and the French winger is suspended for two minutes. Gidsel improves his stats with a new goal in the central sector (27-34).

22h27.

55e

Gidsel in support, central sector easily takes Gérard on the wrong foot (27-33).

22h25.

54e

It's too easy for Pytlick who is still not attacked at 9m and who calmly deceives Gérard (26-32). Time-out requested by Guillaume Gille.

Remili stumbles 6m away on Landin but Karabatic receives and can beat the Danish goalkeeper from close range (27-32).

22h24.

53e

Descat is shifted to the left wing and finds the solution against Landin (26-31).

22h22.

52e

It's happening on the Danish side, Pytlick again, then Saugstrup find themselves alone facing Gérard and who inflate the score (25-31).

22h21.

51e

Prandi's shot is forced on the external interval and the central impact does not scare Landin.

22h19.

50e

Konan fouls Gidsel and this offers a new penalty for Hansen. Gérard stops him!

22h19.

49e

Remili then Prandi lose the ball in attack. Gérard who returned to the French goal made a save on Lauge in the meantime.

22h17.

48e

Karabatic is found by Remili but his shot is stopped by Landin. 12th save at still 46% for the Danish goalkeeper. Pytlick again shines with a beautiful skylight (25-29).

22h15.

47e

Lauge puts Mem at fault in defense. Hansen scores his 6th goal of the evening (25-28).

22h14.

46e

Remili puts her body in opposition to stop Gidsel. Hansen scores the 7m against Desbonnet (25-27). Mem goes for an interval too far outside and his shot does not surprise Landin.

22h13.

45e

After the refusal of play, Descat is shifted and finds a mouse hole to put the ball in the bottom (25-26).

22h12.

44e

Karabatic ends the action with a goal ( 24-26). Pytlick still finds a space in the outer interval but Desbonnet lets his hand drag!

22h11.

43e

Pytlick calmly takes his shot from 9m without being touched and deceives Desbonnet (23-26).

10:08 p.m.

42e

Forcing pass whistled against Karabatic. Tempers flare slightly. Ball lost in attack for the Danes and Remili takes the external interval to deceive Landin (23-25). Timeout requested by Denmark.

22h08.

41e

Pytlick is too fast for the blue defense and deceives Desbonnet with a cross shot (22-25).

22h06.

40e

Desbonnet finally makes his first save on a shot from Pytlick. Porte is stopped in the counterattack but only gets a 9m. Karabatic gets a 7m throw for a zone defense. Descat scores against Nielsen, who came on for the occasion (22-24).

22h05.

39e

Mem tries his luck at 9m but makes Landin shine once again, already the 10th save.

22h04.

38e

Karabatic tears away the central sector and finds a small gap to deceive Landin at the near post (21-23). Jacoksen is shifted to the left wing and beats Desbonnet at the near post (21-24).

22h02.

37e

Gidsel is unstoppable, in support at 9m he beats Desbonnet on the rebound (20-23).

22h01.

36e

Arnoldsen forces his shot in support at 9m and it goes wide. Porte is well offset on his right wing but he bites the zone.

22h00.

35e

Remili intercepts and Porte finishes the counterattack against Landin (20-22).

21h58.

34e

Arnoldsen adds a goal for the Danes (18-22). Mem manages to find space for a long-range goal (19-22).

21h58.

33e

Remili is on the receiving end of a kung-fu with Karabatic, stopped by Landin but Descat recovers and scores (18-21).

21h57.

32e

New loss of the ball in the construction of the attack and Hald is happy to deposit the ball in the empty goal (17-21). The French paid dearly for this inferiority.

21h56.

31e

Ball lost while the goalkeeper was out, Pytlick scores in the empty net.

9:52 p.m.

30th

Denmark kicks off the second half. Desbonnet enters the French goal. On a new breakthrough by Gidsel, Porte lets his arm drag and is suspended for two minutes (17-19).

9:39 p.m.

Half-time: France 17 – 18 Denmark

After a great start to the match (+5), France came up against the return of Landin (6 saves at 46%) and the liveliness of Gidsel (6/7 shots). The Blues held on and went into the locker room still in the match.

9:37 p.m.

29th

Great French defense that recovers the ball. Mem tries from afar but is stopped again by Landin, Fabregas tears himself away to obtain a 7m throw. Descat scores again (17-18).

21h36.

28e

Arnoldsen passes with force and finds space in his cross shot (16-18). Prandi rushes 10m but his shot is still too central and it's a treat for Landin.

21h35.

27e

France still has a bit of trouble in attack, Mem manages to get a 7m throw for zone defense. Descat converts (16-17).

21h32.

26e

Nahi is shifted to a small space on the left wing but his shot is stopped by Landin who makes a very good save. Pytlick finds the opening in support and gives the Danes a two-goal lead (15-17).

9:32 p.m.

25e

Prandi forces the decision and takes a central shot well caught by Landin. On the other side, Gidsel continues his festival (15-16).

21h31.

24e

Prandi gets a strong pass by taking Arnoldsen's elbow in the head.

21h28.

23e

Prandi tries to find a solution by shooting from afar but it doesn't fool Landin. Pytlick flies to the left back position and deceives Gérard with a cross shot (14-15). Lenne is found on the right wing and finds space to slide the ball in (15-15).

21h28.

22e

Richardson takes the outer gap and scores his first goal (14-13). Pytlick takes the gap and finds another gap in the blue defense (14-14).

21h27.

21e

France is having difficulty attacking with a man down and Prandi finds the opening with a shot that he has the secret of. On the quick engagement, Gerard does not have time to come back and easy Danish goal (13-13).

21h26.

20e

New loss of ball on an attempt to find the French pivot, Landin recovers and scores in the empty goal (12-12).

21h24.

19e

Richardson impales himself on the defence and misses his pass. Gerard stops Jakobsen's shot on the left wing from 6m. Nahi loses the ball and Mem pushes Gidsel, he gets a 2-minute suspension and Hansen converts the penalty (12-11).

21h22.

18e

Gidsel already scores his 4th goal by sneaking through the defense once again (12-10).

21h21.

17e

Gidsel still manages to find some space and reduces the score (11-9). Prandi shines at 9m and unleashes a missile that deceives Landin (12-9).

21h21.

16e

At the end of a mix-up in the French attack, Porte receives the ball at 6m and scores (11-8).

21h20.

15e

Landin makes the first Danish save. Remili concedes the 7m throw for a zone defense and Hansen beats Gérard once again in the exercise (10-8).

21h17.

14e

Prandi enters the field and it is Mem who concludes the French action (10-6). Time-out requested by the Danes.

Arnoldsen comes into Prandi to make way for himself and finishes with a shot into the goal (10-7).

21h16.

13e

Karabatic hits the post and Jakobsen finishes the Danish counterattack from very close range on Gérard (9-6).

21h15.

12e

Shot wide of the French, Gidsel's counter ends in the back of the net (9-5).

9:14 p.m.

11e

Remili takes the external interval and comes to beat Nielsen from close range at the first post (9-4). Kirkeloekke tries in turn on his right wing but comes up against the right arm of Gérard! 4th save for the French goalkeeper!

9:12 p.m.

10e

Remili in the axis sends a missile into the top corner (8-4), Arnoldsen on the quick engagement finds himself alone in front of Gérard but the French goalkeeper intervenes!

9:11 p.m.

9e

Saugstrup is found in pivot but stumbles on Gérard who came out to meet him.

9:09 p.m.

8e

A nice feint from Mem who can go alone on the right wing and goes to deceive Nielsen from close range (7-4).

9:08 p.m.

7e

The Danes are pushed to refuse play but Hansen finds the solution at 9m (6-4).

9:07 p.m.

6e

Mem flies down the middle and finds Nielsen's top corner (6-3 ).

9:06 p.m.

5e

Porte is found and takes his chance in a very small space on his right wing and deceives Nielsen at the near post (5-2). Gidsel pulls away and reduces the score (5-3).

9:04 p.m.

4e

< p class="live-post__primer">Remili flies to the wrong side and goes for a penalty for defending in the zone. Descat managed to beat Nielsen on his first shot. Gérard makes the first stop on Gidsel who had arrived at 6m.

9:03 p.m.

3e

Remili takes flight at 10m and shoots Nielsen. Karabatic L. is directly sanctioned with a 2-minute suspension. Hansen converts the 7m throw (3-2).

21h02.

2e

Porte takes the internal gap on his defender and deceives Nielsen at 6m with a powerful shot (3-1). Denmark moves into the zone and France recovers the ball.

21h00.

1e

Fabregas is found by Remili at the pivot position and deceives Nielsen. Pytlick responds immediately (1-1).

8:58 p.m.

0e

It is the French team that kicks off this match.

8:52 p.m.

H – 5'

The starting seven of the Blues is composed of Gérard, Remili, Karabatic, Mem, Descat, Porte and Fabregas.

8:45 p.m.

H – 15'

In the first matches of this group, Egypt got the better of Hungary (35-32) and Norway beat Argentina (36-31). The next day will see the French take on the Norwegians on Monday.

8:30 p.m.

H – 30'

The French team's preparation was marred by a defeat against Germany (35-30) before two successes against Croatia (31-26) and Slovenia (39-30).

8:15 p.m.

H – 45'

In Olympic history, the French and Danes have shared the last four: France winning gold in 2008 and 2012, Denmark winning those of 2016 in front of the French. The Blues took their revenge on the Danes in 2021. It is therefore a royal tournament opening for these two nations.

8:00 p.m.

H – 60'

For this men's tournament, it is the same formula as for the girls with two groups of 6 teams in which the first four are qualified for the quarter-finals. France is in the same group as Norway, Egypt, Hungary, Argentina and Denmark.