Paris (AFP)

Center-half Allison Pineau, deprived of Euro-2020 after a nose injury, will be back for the gathering of French handball players in mid-March, while goalkeeper Amandine Leynaud will be left to rest, the French Federation announced on Wednesday.

Three months after their silver medal at the 2020 European Championship in Denmark (22-20 defeat in the final against Norway), the French will meet in Créteil from March 14 to 21, and will face Denmark twice in a friendly manner. in Créteil, Thursday March 18 (5:00 p.m.) and Saturday March 20 (7:00 p.m.).

The two teams are not affected by the Olympic qualifying tournaments which will take place at the same time: France, thanks to its European title in 2018, is already qualified, while Denmark, 4th in Euro-2020, does not failed to land any of the tickets for these TQOs.

For this rally, coach Olivier Krumbholz has called 21 players, including 19 of the 20 girls present in Denmark in December.

Allison Pineau (31), victim of a double nose fracture in mid-November with his Montenegrin club Buducnost, is making his return to the position of center-half.

In goals, Catherine Gabriel replaces Amandine Leynaud and completes the trio of goalkeepers with Cleopatre Darleux and Laura Glauser.

2017 World Champions and 2018 European Champions, the French handball players will set off this summer in search of the Olympic title in Tokyo (23 July-8 August), the only one missing from their charts.

The group:

Goalkeepers: Cleopatre Darleux (Brest), Catherine Gabriel (Paris 92), Laura Glauser (Györ / HUN)

Left wingers: Siraba Dembélé-Pavlovic (Bucharest / ROU), Coralie Lassource (Brest), Chloé Valentini (Besançon)

Left-backs: Orlane Kanor (Metz), Kalidiatou Niakaté (Brest), Estelle Nze Minko (Györ / HUN)

Mid-centers: Méline Nocandy (Metz), Allison Pineau (Buducnost / MNE), Grâce Zaadi (Rostov / RUS)

Right-backs: Aïssatou Kouyaté (Besançon), Alexandra Lacrabère (Fleury), Océane Sercien-Ugolin (Ljubljana / SLO)

Right wings: Pauline Coatanea (Brest), Blandine Dancette (Nantes), Laura Flippes (Paris 92)

Pivots: Béatrice Edwige (Györ / HUN), Pauletta Fopa (Brest), Astride N'Gouan (Metz)

© 2021 AFP