It will be there.

Center-half Nikola Karabatic, seriously injured in mid-October with Paris Saint-Germain, will play in the Tokyo Olympics.

The 37-year-old legend is on the list of 15 players selected Monday by coach Guillaume Gille to travel to Japan in two weeks.

Victim of a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of the left knee on October 17, Nikola Karabatic resumed competition with PSG at the end of May after seven months of cut, playing in particular the Final 4 of the Champions League.

🚨 The list of 15 selected by Guillaume Gille for Tokyo 🇫🇷 !!



🌩 Meeting from July 24 to August 8



2 replacements are also making the trip to Japan ✊🎌!



Read the article 📲 https://t.co/C4XS9WM2Rj#BleuetFier #DirectionTokyo pic.twitter.com/TVdRWPDtGg

- French Handball Teams (@FRAHandball) July 5, 2021

“When you get to a starting line for the Olympics, there is nothing guaranteed.

There were no more questions for him than for the others.

He demonstrated during this small fortnight of preparation that he was very strong physically, ”said coach Guillaume Gille.

Four players sidelined, two substitutes

With the French, Nikola Karabatic will go in search of a fourth Olympic podium, after gold in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012, and silver in 2016 in Rio, after the defeat in the final against Denmark.

Of the 21 players in the preparation, Jean-Jacques Acquevillo, Dylan Nahi, Elohim Prandi and Yannis Lenne are leaving the group, while Rémi Desbonnet and Romain Lagarde will travel to Japan as replacements.

“It's a daily job and intense reflection with the staff and in particular Erick [Mathé, his deputy] to determine the best profile to allow us to achieve great Games.

It was a headache for some positions, ”admitted Guillaume Gille.

15 players will be in the Olympic Village, but the coach will be able to modify his 14 players on the sheet for each match, allowing the tactical options to be opened, which was not the case for previous editions of the Olympics?

"It's a real added value", appreciated the coach.

The French will start the Olympics-2020 on Saturday July 24 against Argentina in a group stage during which they will also face Brazil (July 26), Germany (July 28), Spain (July 30) and Norway (August 1).

They must take one of the top four places to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The list of 15

Goalkeepers: 

Yann Genty (Paris SG), Vincent Gérard (Paris SG)

Left wingers: 

Hugo Descat (Montpellier), Michaël Guigou (cap.) (Nîmes)

Left-back:

Nikola Karabatic (Paris SG), Timothey N'Guessan (FC Barcelona / ESP)

Centerbacks

:

Kentin Mahé (Veszprem / HON), Nedim Remili (Paris SG)

Pivots:

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

Right-backs:

Dika Mem (FC Barcelona / ESP), Melvyn Richardson (Montpellier)

Right wingers: 

Luc Abalo (Elverum / NOR), Valentin Porte (Montpellier)

The two substitutes: 

Rémi Desbonet (goalkeeper, Nîmes), Romain Lagarde (left back, RN Löwen / ALL).

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