Facing the Dutch in the Antarès room, then against the Egyptians or the Czechs three days later in the brand new Orleans Arena (10,000 seats) which they will inaugurate, the reigning Olympic champions are looking for a little adversity could set them up for the opening match against hosts Poland in front of their overheated home crowd on 11 January.

The opposition offered by this Tournoi de France will be a little tougher than during the qualifying matches for Euro-2024 in October against two modest opponents, Latvia (35-18) and Italy (40-29) .

"(These two meetings should) allow us to ramp up, to have two dress rehearsals before plunging a little coldly into the fervor of the Katowice hall (where Poland-France will be played, editor's note)", underlines the coach , Guillaume Gilles.

"We will be full of energy, because we have the chance to play in front of our supporters in two magnificent stadiums. We will be able to experiment in real conditions with the associations of players, to gauge the forces present, to draw the outlines of the team brought to play the World Cup" he added.

Final list Sunday

Wednesday against the partners of the small half-center of PSG Luc Steins (1.73 m), then Saturday, Gille will test the ghosts and neophytes before removing, on Sunday, an element in the list of 19 names retained for the preparation - for each game of the World Cup, the coach will be able to choose 16 players from these 18.

Dutchman Luc Steins with the colors of Paris Saint-Germain (in blue) during a match against Elverum in the Terningen Arena of Elverum in Norway on March 30, 2022 © Geir Olsen / NTB / AFP / Archives

Among them, Elohim Prandi (PSG, 24, 10 caps) and Thibaud Briet (Nantes, 23, 13 caps) are applying for a left-back position where Timothey Nguessan (injured) is missing.

In a group rejuvenated since the Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021 and fourth place in Euro-2022, Montpellier goalkeeper Charles Bolzinger (22) should know his first cape this week.

He "brings another stature, another style into the cage" according to Gille, whose group has been meeting since Monday noon at the Maison du handball in Créteil for its second block of preparation.

The first, after Christmas and before a short break around the transition to the new year, had allowed the management to carry out a review of the physical troops after a big first part of the club season for most players.

In addition to that of Nguessan, Gille is notably faced with the package for the World Cup of left winger Hugo Descat (left winger), replaced by Parisian Mathieu Grébille, another returnee, and Kyllian Villeminot.

The young Montpellier center half (24), "in trouble with his right knee for a few weeks", withdrew on Tuesday, the staff announced, and will therefore have to wait to make his international debut.

The group of 19 for the preparation:

Goalkeepers: Charles Bolzinger (Montpellier), Rémi Desbonnet (Montpellier), Vincent Gérard (Saint-Raphaël)

Centre-halves: Kentin Mahé (Veszprem / HUN), Nedim Remili (Kielce / POL)

Left backs: Thibaud Briet (Nantes), Nikola Karabatic (Paris SG), Romain Lagarde (Aix-en-Provence), Elohim Prandi (Paris SG)

Right-backs: Dika Mem (FC Barcelona), Melvyn Richardson (FC Barcelona)

Pivots: Ludovic Fabregas (FC Barcelona), Luka Karabatic (cap, Paris SG), Nicolas Tournat (Kielce / POL)

Left wingers: Mathieu Grébille (Paris SG), Dylan Nahi (Kielce / POL)

Right wingers: Benoît Kounkoud (Kielce / POL), Yanis Lenne (Montpellier), Valentin Porte (Montpellier)

© 2023 AFP