Cairo (AFP)

Russia, whose male selection has seen a serious decline for a decade, is raising its head at the World Handball Championship in Egypt;

without name or flag after his exclusion from major competitions for doping and cheating.

Global sports giant punished for a cascade of cheating, Russia was excluded from major international competitions until December 16, 2022, but its athletes can compete under a neutral banner if they have never been convicted of doping, ruled the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) mid-December.

The Mondial de hand is the first international competition since this decision.

Russia is present there, but under the name "Russian Handball Federation" (RHF) whose logo replaces the white-blue-red flag everywhere.

The Russians are also deprived of an anthem, replaced by that of the International Federation (IHF).

Its representatives have learned to do with, or rather without.

"In the hotel and everywhere, we are + like + the Russians but when we go out on the field, it's a little weird", explains to AFP, in a blue and black tracksuit without distinctive sign, the half-center Sergey Kudinov.

Captain Daniil Shishkarev, 32, feared the first match against Belarus (32-32): "We did not know what our emotions would be. When you listen to the national anthem, emotions surface."

- "In our hearts" -

But for center-half Dmitry Zhitnikov, the Russians have made this loss of identity a strength: "It's hard to explain how difficult it is to play without our anthem and our flag, but I think it is 'is like a motivation for us. We know it's politics and we try to show everyone that you can take anything from us but that we will play the same. The flag and the hymn are in our hearts. "

"Because it affects us, we are more aggressive and maybe that helped us", abounds in French Kudinov, player of Chartres since 2014. "It is not what we want but, in this exceptional situation , it's a motivation. "

Is this extra soul sufficient to explain the good tournament for Russian handball players?

In 2018, their ice hockey counterparts won the Olympic tournament under the name "Olympic Athletes of Russia" and the IOC banner, for the same reasons.

In Egypt, the Russians don't see that far.

For a long time a stronghold of men's handball (four Olympic titles, three world titles and one European including the Soviet era), Russia has since dropped to a level, as evidenced by its non-qualifications for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, its recent 14th place at the last World Cup, in 2019. After its 22nd place at Euro-2020, Shishkarev's team owes its presence in Cairo only to an invitation from the IHF.

- A stranger to rebuild -

To guide the reconstruction site, the RHF has opted for a small revolution by appointing the German-Bosnian Velimir Petkovic coach: for the first time, the Russian team is led by a foreigner.

Petkovic "first changed the mood, he made us come closer to each other, to feel like a family," Zhitnikov explains.

"Then he completely changed our system by asking us to run more, to bet on the counterattacks, to speed up the game, a game a bit German," added the center-half.

"His tactic is to defend well and score the goals as easy as possible," said Kudinov, who underlined the quality of the mental work carried out by the technician.

As a result, the Russians are still in contention for the quarter-finals before their last match Sunday against Sweden.

They notably achieved a small feat against Slovenia (31-25), semi-finalist at the Euro.

"I was proud of these guys after the game against Slovenia, they gave their best," said Shishkarev, "but I hope our best game will be against Sweden tomorrow".

"Nobody knows how far we can go now," Zhitnikov even dares.

A quarter-final would be a funny revenge for these Russians deprived of identity.

© 2021 AFP