Fredric Pettersson has had his handball home in France for almost five years, first in Toulouse and then in 2018 in Montpellier.
There he is accompanied by several World Cup players, in addition to Sweden's Lucas Pellas also the French Valentin Porte, Hugo Descat and Melvyn Richardson.
-It will be fun to play against players that you play with or against on a daily basis, says 31-year-old Pettersson, who therefore also has better control of France than many others.
And with Pettersson - 201 centimeters tall and 116 kilos heavy - as one of the defense giants, Sweden will try to make it difficult for the French.
-Can we resist in the beginning, I think they get it tough.
We often and a lot talk about that we should have a stable base in the defense, to get the "easier" counterattack goals and avoid fighting in attacks as well, he says.
The role has grown
The midfielder, who rarely gets the biggest headlines, has played 61 international matches and makes his fifth straight championship with Blågult.
But in the last two years, he has started the World Cup and European Championships as a reserve and only joined the squad during the tournament.
Now Fredric Pettersson has been with us all the way from the premiere and got a slightly bigger role.
-It's always fun to be a real part of it, to put on the match kit and stand there and sing the national anthem.
Even though there is no audience here, it's damn cool, says the Smålander, who got his handball education in the Jönköping club IK Cyrus.
At 5.30 pm on Friday night, there is a return in Sweden's World Cup semi-final in Cairo.