Les Bleus finished 4th in the Egyptian World Cup in January 2021. -

Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AP / SIPA

  • The French handball team faces Croatia this Friday evening, first of its three opponents by Sunday for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. 

  • The Blues must finish in the top two of this mini championship to get their ticket to Tokyo. 

  • Fourth at the World Cup in Egypt in January, they got off on the right foot after the Euro 2020 fiasco and the departure of Didier Dinart. 

Already that we will have to do without spectators - come from abroad at least - we very much hope that we will not have to do without the French hand team in Tokyo either.

Because there, really, all our Olympic benchmarks would definitely be gone.

The Blues, who have not missed an edition since the tanned birth certificate of the Barjots in 1992, are a compass for French sport when it comes to refining the medal forecasts.

So we are counting on the double Olympic champions (2008 and 2012) to emerge unscathed from the tricky qualifying tournament which starts in Montpellier this Friday.

To qualify the mission that awaits Guillaume Gille's players as perilous would be to forget a little quickly the experience and the long track record like a global pandemic of this team.

However, nothing will be easy.

To validate their ticket, France, which has not had to go through it since 2008, must finish in the first two of a mini-tournament with Croatia, Tunisia and Portugal, only nations that have already given him (to varying degrees) some problems.

Above all, the sequence of three games in three days does not leave much room for maneuver.

The (good) bases of the World Cup in Egypt

"The TQO remains the only competition on this format, which is incomprehensible because it imposes a big load on the athletes at an already very complicated moment of the season", plague the coach Guillaume Gille, who had not hesitated to qualify this organization as a “butcher's shop” in an interview with France Info a few days ago.

We will therefore have to get to the point, and build on what worked well at the World Cup in Egypt in January.

The Blues left with the chocolate medal, but were still reassured after the sinking of Euro 2020 (elimination in the first round).

"There are a lot of sites and axes on which we would like to work with the staff, but we have very little time in common," underlines the one who succeeded Didier Dinart in the wake of the European fiasco.

We will build on what made our strength in January, namely our defensive strength and our variety in attack, with a lot of possibilities.

"

Guillaume Gille is happy.

- Petr David Josek / AP / SIPA

Still deprived of Nikola Karabatic, recovering after a knee operation at the end of October, the France team can still count on the backbone of the last great title to date, the 2017 World Cup. Glorious alumni are still there (Abalo, Guigou, Luka Karabatic), young people are starting to drink (Fabregas, Remili, Mem, Richardson) and those who make the connection between the two generations are now used to responsibilities (Porte, Mahé).

If "our irregularity requires a lot of caution and humility", dixit Gille, everyone is in place and knows what to do.

There was no great revolution during the week of internship granted to prepare for this meeting.

"The idea was above all to refresh the memory of the players and to put themselves in combat mode to chain three fantastic duels", explains the coach.

The happiness of finding Croatia (no)

The watchword has passed.

“It's going to be war for three days, plus a first match against Croatia.

We will have to be strong physically and mentally, ”warns Michaël Guigou.

From the top of his 39 years, the captain knows what he is talking about having known a good shovel of fights against the great rival of the 2000s. Certainly, the Croats come out of a failed World Cup and are no longer as flamboyant as in the years Ivano Balic, but a year ago they were still able to bring home a European silver medal.

And then they just love to ruin our lives.

“This is the team that has the most references at the international level, with incredible soloists and three of the best center-backs in the world,” recalls Guillaume Gille.

"In recent years, they have beaten us more [Olympics 2016, World Cup 2019], it might be the time to reverse all that", supports Valentin Porte.

Because a defeat from the outset would make the next two games unbreathable.

And facing Tunisia and Portugal - certainly shaken by the tragic death of his goalkeeper Alfredo Quintana - who knows what can happen.

If the vice-champions of Africa seem a notch below, Portugal, long considered a minor nation of European hand, has made clear progress in recent years.

"The Olympics are above everything"

The Blues, beaten twice in the last four confrontations between the two countries, are well placed to know it.

“Honestly, this game worries me a bit.

I don't want to find myself in the situation of playing a final and qualifying against Portugal, ”Porte warned.

If those who should no longer be called the Experts could avoid this for us, we are not saying no.

After that, even if we have to win 30-29 on a goal of hanging up the siren, the main thing remains to see Tokyo.

"The Olympic Games are the Grail", asserts Guillaume Gille.

The former center-half, who twice touched gold after two frustrating failures in the quarter-finals, has a sparkling eye when it comes to this competition.

“It's above everything.

There is a particular atmosphere… it requires something more in the commitment of each one, ”he describes.

Most of his players already know it, but a little reminder can't hurt at the start of a weekend like this.

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