REPLAY. France-Norway: unrecognizable Blues lose in their second group match of the Paris 2024 Olympics

Mem was the only French player at the level against Norway, but it was not enough. EPA – RITCHIE B. TONGO

This Monday, July 29, the French handball team lost in as many games in Group B of these Olympic Games. Their executioner of the evening is Norway (22-27) at the Paris Sud Arena 6.

Breakdown in attack

Two days after being crushed by Denmark (29-37), France stumbled again. Despite a renewed defense in the second half, the Blues never managed to establish their attacking game.

With only 52% shooting, Guillaume Gille's team couldn't hope for better. Only Mem did the job with a nice 10/12 shooting. Gérard did the job in defense with 10 saves but it wasn't enough.

The qualification is not yet in question given the format (the first four qualified) but doubts are increasingly present regarding the reaction of the Blues. To see against Egypt in two days.

A match to relive here:

8:30 p.m.

End of the match: France 22 – 27 Norway

France was unable to reverse the trend in this second period despite the aggressiveness found in defense. The Blues are last in their group with two defeats.

8:29 p.m.

59e

Fabregas, found at the pivot position, finally scores (22-27).

8:28 p.m.

58e

Prandi lightens the expense with a long-range shot (21-26).

8:26 p.m.

57e

On the counter Fabregas is found at 6m but still finds the post. Refusal of fast play against Norway who obtain a penalty thanks to Reinkind. Blonz scores it again against Gérard (20-26).

20h25.

56e

Fabregas' offensive foul with a bad block. Refusal to play against the Norwegians where Sagosen finds Gérard for a lucky save with the post.

20h24.

55e

Lyze tries his luck at 10m but it is read well by Gérard who makes his 9th save.

20h21.

54e

Lyze forces his shot in support that Gérard stops without problem. Nahi found on his left wing manages to deceive Saeveraas (20-25). Timeout requested by Norway.

20h21.

53e

Remili alone at 6m facing the goalkeeper manages to find the post.

20h19.

52e

Gérard makes another save on Sagosen. Mem goes for the 7m throw with a defense in the zone. Richardson sees his shot stopped by Saeveraas.

20h17.

51e

New refusal to play against France and Prandi takes the Norwegian arms just like Richardson.

8:17 p.m.

50e

Reinkind takes advantage of a slide by Nahi to take the gap and come and beat Gérard (19-25).

8:15 p.m.

49e

Lyze climbs in suspension at 9m and passes through the French arms to deceive Gérard (19-24). At the end of the refusal of play, Prandi tries the shot in support at 10m but it is not on target.

20h14.

48e

Sagosen finds the opening and Mem in pivot maintains the gap (19-23). ​​It is already the 10th goal of Mem.

20h12.

47e

Mem breaks away to get a 7m throw. Descat stumbles on Saeveraas' shoulder.

20h11.

46e

Mem, back from the bench, finds some space, he is the only one to get out of it on the front of the attack (18-21). Lyze takes his chance at 10m and wrong-foots Gérard (18-22).

20h10.

45e

Richardson's shot finds the Norwegian goalkeeper but Karabatic follows up well and scores (17-20). Remili is given two minutes for a defensive charge during Groendahl's goal (17-21).

20h09.

44e

Loss of the ball on a bad pass from Norway then France. Gerard comes out of his zone to intercept a restart.

8:08 p.m.

43e

Bad block from Karabatic L. and the ball is given back to Norway.

20h06.

42e

Porte is shifted to the right wing but his shot hits the post again. Groendahl tries a long shot but it goes over the crossbar.

20h05.

41e

Remili finally finds the back of the net on the right back position (16-20). Norwegian forced passage.

20h04.

40e

Blonz once again finds the solution near the post on his left wing (15-20).

20h03.

39e

Blonz is well shifted and deceives Gérard on his left wing (15-19). Remili tries a shot from afar but too central and Saeveraas stops it.

20h02.

38e

Sagosen is forced to shoot when he refuses to play, it is blocked by Fabregas and captured by Gérard. Fabregas is found again but stumbles on the beautiful exit of Saeveraas.

20h01.

37e

Remili is again unsuccessful in shooting. At the end of the refusal to play, Mem flies once again to score (15-18).

19h59.

36e

Mem at the right back position puts on another show and gets the better of his opponent and deceives Saeveraas with a cross shot (14-17). Groendahl once again finds a space in the central sector and plays with Gérard (14-18).

19h58.

35th

For a zone defense, Blonz has a new 7m throw that he scores against Gérard (13-17).

7:57 p.m.

34th

Refusal of play for the Norwegians, the French defense finds aggressiveness again and the Norwegian shot is not on target. Fabregas on the counter, finds the bar of Saeveraas.

19h57.

33e

Mem sounds the revolt and goes for a new rebound goal (13-16).

19h55.

32e

Reinkind forces his shot from 9m and misses the frame.

7:54 p.m.

31e

Mem is well shifted by Remili and finds the rebound fault at the near post (12-16).

7:49 p.m.

30e

Norway begins the second half of the match. Porte recovers the ball after an aggressive defense.

7:39 p.m.

Half time: France 11 – 16 Norway

Unrecognizable, the Blues are logically led by Norway at half-time. Contained to only 11 goals, the Blues are not helped by the numerous losses of the ball in attack.

19h37.

29e

After the refusal of play, Reinkind obtains a 7m throw for a zone defense. Blonz the convert (11-16). Prandi takes the outside gap but runs into Saeveraas.

19h36.

28e

Sagosen is found on the external interval but runs into Gérard. Behind a new loss of the ball for the Blues.

19h34.

27e

In superiority, Fabregas is found at the pivot position and scores his first goal (10-15). Timeout taken by Norway. With Konan as an advanced defender, the Blues recover the ball and Fabregas scores in the empty goal (11-15).

19h32.

26e

Mem doubles up with Prandi by advancing into the 6m and deceives the goalkeeper from close range (9-15). Reinkind loses the ball and Descat is irregularly stopped by Bjoernsen who receives a 2-minute suspension.

19h31.

25e

Lyse takes advantage of a good block to shoot Gérard, the defense is still too soft (8-15).

19h29.

24e

Prandi crosses with Mem who can fly and deceive Saeveraas on the rebound (8-14).

19h28.

23e

Descat is shifted to a tight angle and his shot is stopped. Lyse scores in support (7-13). Another loss of the ball on a complicated pass attempt by Prandi, Bjoernsen finishes the counterattack at 6m (7-14). Guillaume Gille is forced to take a new time-out.

19h27.

22e

On an advanced defense of the Blues, Oeverby is served at the pivot position and alone at 6m deceives Gérard (7-12).

19h26.

21e

Before the game was refused, Lyse found a powerful shot under Gérard's skylight (6-11). Prandi brought out his supersonic arm to score his first goal (7-11).

19h25.

20e

Lyse took his chance at 9m but the shot was not precise enough and Gérard intervened. Eighth loss of the ball for the Blues on the left wing…

19h24.

19e

Norwegian loss of the ball on the pass to the pivot, Mem leads the counterattack and finishes with a shot between the legs of Saeveraas (6-10).

19h23.

18e

Gullerud is again found in pivot and worsens the score (4-10). Lenne in the same position as before finds the space (5-10).

19h22.

17e

Lenne is found on the right wing but has no space. He tries his luck but his shot is off target.

19h20.

16e

Gullerud is found at the pivot position and gets a 7m throw. Blonz scores against Gérard (4-8). Karabatic fails to catch the ball at the pivot position and Bjoernsen goes on the counterattack to beat Gérard from close range (4-9).

19h18.

15e

Fabregas is finally found and breaks away to obtain the penalty. Descat places a chabala in the top corner for the 4th French goal (4-7).

19h17.

14e

Groendahl shoots in support at the end of the Norwegian construction and it is stopped by Gérard. But another loss of the ball while looking for the pivot in attack. Reinkind adds a quick goal for Norway (3-7).

19h16.

13e

Lenne is well shifted on his wing and with plenty of space can beat Saeveraas easily (3-6).

19h14.

12e

Groendahl arrives again at the 6m and beats Gérard once again (2-5). Fabregas is not found and Norway goes on the counterattack, Bjoernsen scores at the near post (2-6). Time-out requested by France after this catastrophic start.

19h12.

11e

Refusal of play whistled against Norway, Remili launches himself 9m out but hits the post. The attack is in great difficulty.

19h11.

10e

New loss of the ball for the Blues, Lenne had his foot in touch when receiving the ball.

7:10 p.m.

9e

Groendahl continues to find space and enjoys the central sector (2-4).

7:09 p.m.

8e

Groendahl finds space in the center but runs into Gérard, winger Blonz recovers and finds a nice skylight (2-3).

19h08.

7e

Groendahl finds a space in the central sector and deceives Gérard (2-2). Remili takes his chance 9m out in the axis but it is stopped by Saeveraas.

19h07.

6e

Reinkind finds new space on the right this time but his shot is pushed away by the post. On the counter Mem finds the opening with the help of the bar.

19h06.

5e

Ball lost on a bad reception from Remili, Sagosen recovers the ball.

7:06 p.m.

4th

Reinkind takes the outer interval on the left side but his shot does not find the target.

19h04.

3e

France goes to the end of refusing to play and must shoot at a 9m, Mem's shot is stopped.

7:03 p.m.

2e

Descat is shifted to his left wing and finds the opening on Saeveraas (1-1).

7:02 p.m.

1e

Sagosen is the first to find the target after an initial failure by Mem on the blue side.

18h58.

0e

France kicks off this match.

18h55.

H – 5'

Guillaume Gille starts with almost the same starting seven as against Denmark: Gérard in goal, Descat on the left wing with Karabatic, Remili and Mem on the back base, Lenne makes his appearance on the right wing and Fabregas keeps his place as pivot.

6:45 p.m.

H – 15'

In this group B, Denmark won against Egypt (27-30) and takes the lead of the group. After the meeting with France, Argentina and Hungary face each other, two teams defeated in the first round. France, last at kick-off, must win their match to get back up to par with their opponents.

6:30 p.m.

H – 30'

The Norwegian men's team is not as impressive as its women's counterpart, but has reached an important international level in recent years with its main achievements being two silver medals at the World Cup (2017, 2019) and a bronze at Euro 2020. The Scandinavians are still looking for their first title.

6:15 p.m.

H – 45'

Both teams are used to meeting on the international stage, particularly during the Golden League, which pits the continent's most prestigious teams against each other. In the last two confrontations, it was the French who won. Norway's last victory dates back to the group stage of the 2021 Olympics (32-29).

18h00.

H – 60'

Overwhelmed by the Gidsel-Pytlick-Hansen trio on Saturday for their entry into the tournament, the Blues will have to raise the bar to thwart Norway in this second match of the group stage. The Norwegians made a successful entry with a victory against Argentina (36-31).