Basketball:

The American team is aiming for the fourth gold medal in a row - but in the final this Saturday (4.30 a.m. CEST in the FAZ live ticker for the Olympics, on ZDF and on Eurosport), the French of all people stand in their way.

The two teams faced each other at the start of the Summer Games, and the unbeaten Europeans inflicted their first Olympic defeat in 17 years on the favorites in the group stage.

Achim Dreis

Sports editor.

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At the last World Cup in 2019, France, which is fighting for Olympic gold for the first time in 21 years, knocked the USA out of the tournament in the quarter-finals. After 1948 and 2000, the final between the USA and France will take place for the third time. For the French women, on the other hand, it wasn't quite enough. Japan clearly prevailed in the semifinals, but are blatant outsiders against the USA. The Americans have won 54 games in a row at the Olympics. France plays for bronze against Serbia.

Handball:

It was the least important game of the tournament in which Nikola Karabatić got the most upset. August 1st, preliminary round, France versus Norway. The French had already reached the quarter-finals against Bahrain as group winners. Norway led clearly. And yet coach Christian Berge took a break 20 seconds before the end. This is a no-go: you don't do it. There is nothing more to say.

Karabatić later made this clear to the Norwegian assistant coach in the interview zone: “What is that supposed to mean, that was fooling,” Karabatić said in German to Børge Lund, with whom he played at THW Kiel. When the official interviewer asked why Karabatić was so annoyed, he just waved his hand and said in English: “Oh, it doesn't matter, I have to tell the head coach and he's not the head coach.” Karabatić is always more ambitious than others been. But at 37 he actually knows when it is worth getting really excited - but not in this scene.

The fact that this handball genius is even there in Tokyo came as a surprise because of his cruciate ligament rupture in October. And now he is aiming for the third gold medal after 2008 and 2012 - on Saturday (2 p.m. CEST in the FAZ live ticker for the Olympics, on ZDF and on Eurosport) France and Denmark will meet. The giants of this sport are dueling again like they were five years ago in Rio when Denmark won. France ultimately defeated the Egyptians on Thursday 27:23 thanks to Karabatić's five goals.

The Danes made life difficult against the Spaniards in the second half, but had Mikkel Hansen, whose twelve goals were decisive for the next finals. Hansen is four years younger than Karabatić; The performances of the two in Tokyo have shown that the era of the great leaders is far from over - and if there is one trend in world handball, it is that it cannot be done without a dominant and accurate player in the backcourt.