A success against the Hungarian promoted would have, from this third day, virtually saved them from the descent, promised to the last of their group A. They had to settle for a point they got with the overtime loss. "We will see if he is important for the rest of the tournament," said coach Philippe Bozon.
His men led twice thanks to goals from Charles Bertrand and Louis Boudon. But the Magyars first equalised with a cannonball from Bence Stipsicz whose shot, masked, lodged just over the leg of Sebastian Ylönen. Then Vilmos Gallo took advantage of a space and a missed defensive clearance from Hugo Gallet to bring his own back to tie (2-2).
"We leave a man behind his back and we lose a duel, comments the coach. There was better to do, we should have been careful."
In extra time, after a first duel won, Sebastian Ylönen lost in two stages on a Hungarian counterattack concluded by Istvan Bartalis.
With four points on the clock, thanks to their success against Austria (2-1) and the defeat against Denmark (4-3) -- each time in overtime --, the Blues are certainly ahead of their competitors for the moment. But the three best teams in the group now await them, first the Olympic and world champions Finland on Wednesday (19:20), then Sweden and then the United States.
"There are big teams that let themselves go, observes Philippe Bozon. You have to introduce yourself and see if there is not an opportunity. I'm thinking of the USA who have a game similar to ours."
The final day against Germany could otherwise be decisive.
© 2023 AFP