After mastering Angola (30-20) and outclassing Slovenia (29-18), Coralie Lassource's teammates had their first complicated moments in this World-2021.

The Olympic champions in Tokyo four months ago have finally found the strength to beat the players of Bojana Popovic.

With these three successes, France climbs to the main round with the maximum number of points on the clock, namely four, just like Russia, which it will face in the last match of the main round, next Monday.

Before that, the Blue will play against Poland on Thursday, then Serbia on Saturday.

The matches of the French against the Montenegrins are rarely fun, as evidenced by the difficult victory in the first round of Euro-2020 in Herning last year (24-23).

The duel proposed Tuesday evening, in a palace of sports of Granollers copiously furnished, has not escaped the rule, despite the absences of major players on the Montenegrin side (in particular Djurdjina Jaukovic).

And he had a bit of tension, mounted a notch at the end of the period, when Tatjana Brnovic received a red card and four minutes of temporary exclusion.

A decision not understood by the spectators of Granollers.

Coralie Lassource treats

The two teams then returned to the locker room tied (12-12), before the French took advantage of their numerical superiority to give themselves some air thanks to Estelle Nze Minko and Grâce Zaadi at the start of the second period.

The French defense then "closed shop", as they chanted in Creole at the Olympic Games in the form of a war cry, for a few minutes to escape the score (16-12).

But the Montenegrins, supported by the Spanish public, hooked the Blue and pushed them to their limits.

Montenegrin Tatjana Brnovic is stopped by the French defense, during the 3rd match of the 1st round of the 2021 World Cup, on December 7, 2021 in Granollers (Spain) Pau BARRENA AFP

The salute came from the young Lucie Granier on the right wing.

At 22 years old and for her first international competition, she scored two precious goals which allowed the French to regain some margin in the score (21-17) and have the last five minutes a little less stressful.

The captain of the France team Coralie Lassource ended the match with six goals on the clock, top scorer, the last on a superb roucoulette to give the Blue five goals (23-18, 58th).

The backs of the France team have not yet found a solution to their low efficiency on long-range shots (9 m), a recurring problem highlighted by Olivier Krumbholz on the first two matches of the 2021 World Cup and confirmed on Tuesday evening against Montenegro.

The coach of the French handball team, Olivier Krumbholz, during the 3rd match of the 1st round of the 2021 World Cup against Montenegro, on December 7, 2021 in Granollers (Spain) Pau BARRENA AFP

During the sixty minutes against Montenegro, the French very rarely found the frame, the backs Océane Sercien Ugolin and Kalidiatou Niakaté still not managing to settle the sights.

A concern that will have to be quickly resolved in the main round.

© 2021 AFP