Jostled by the Croats Thursday in Koprivnica (21-19), the Blues made a much better copy this time to ensure without dragging one of the first two places in their group, two days from the end.

Second in Euro-2020 behind Norway, they will therefore be at the next continental meeting, organized from November 4 to 20 in North Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia.

Olivier Krumbholz's players delivered a first half in line with what they had shown three days earlier against the same opponent, with a curious ten-minute air gap in attack.

Fortunately, goalkeeper Laura Glauser, as effective on her line as her Croatian counterpart, kept the France team afloat, returning to the locker room with a four-goal lead (13-9).

Worn by the noisy Toulouse public and its hundreds of young people dressed in blue-white-red, the Olympic champions made their rank more respected in the second act.

The offensive cogs finally oiled, they widened the gap in the wake of Océane Sercien Ugolin, Estelle Nze Minko, Onacia Ondono and Grace Zaadi (4 goals each).

French center half Grace Zaadi tries a shot against Croatia in their Euro 2020 semi-final on December 18, 2020 in Herning (Denmark) Jonathan NACKSTRAND AFP / Archives

A great international parenthesis for the latter, whose club future is uncertain since she plays in Rostov, a Russian city near the border with Ukraine.

"We had a much better match than Thursday," said coach Olivier Krumbholz.

"I found the game to be pleasant. The French team remained serious for 60 minutes, which allowed them to score fairly wide at the end".

The coach of the French women's handball team, Olivier Krumbholz, during the semi-final against Denmark at the World Championship, December 17, 2021 in Granollers (Spain) Josep LAGO AFP / Archives

"We have to continue to work and everyone finds their place and takes their responsibilities. We are far from our maximum, but that's normal, we have finished a cycle and we are starting another," he said. he adds.

Largely at the head of their group thanks to their flawless performance, the French have two more qualifying matches to play in, starting with a trip to the Czech Republic on April 20.

The second, scheduled for April 23 in Le Havre against Ukraine, may not take place due to the ongoing war in that country.

© 2022 AFP