Category: Focus on

31 January 2017

World Championship 2017: All the numbers!

2017 IHF Handball World Championship concluded on Sunday with the sixth world title for the French team, who was victorious against Norway in final (33:26). Here is a summary of this 25th edition.

28 January 2017

Norway hope for fresh legs ahead of final

With an extra day off for France and extra-time played in semi-final, Norway will have to find some extra physical reserves for Sunday’s final (17:30). But Sander Sagosen and his teammates have big confidence in themselves. By saving Croatian Zlatko Horvat’s penalty at the last second of the semi-final, with the score at 22:22, Torbjorn...

27 January 2017

Sagosen living as prodigy and a leader

All-star centre back of the EURO last year, Sander Sagosen is living up to the hype surrounding his enormous potential since the start of the World Championship. At just 21 years old, the Norwegian leader is in control his emotions and doesn’t avoid taking on responsibility when aiming for a medal. It is often said...

27 January 2017

Babic counts on the hearts of his “cowboys”

Despite some injury problems, Croatia travel to Paris full of optimism. The statistic speak for them prior to their semi-final against Norway. And coach Babic hopes for another big fight.

24 January 2017

Brest hosted 13,300 spectators!

13,300 spectators came to the eight matches of the President’s Cup, played in the Brest Arena(21th-23rd January). Confirming that Brittany is a land of handball. A good news for the 2018 European Women’s Handball Championship. A phenomenal success! With 13,300 spectators for the eight matches played in Brest’s Arena, the President's Cup has confirmed the tremendous popular enthusiasm seen since the beginning of the 2017 Men's World Handball Championship. During these three days, the Brest Arena had a remarkable fill rate for the competition of 81%. On the field, in front of Hassan Moustafa, the President of the International Handball Federation, it was Poland that won the President's Cup, dominating Argentina for the 17th position (24-22). Tunisia won the 19th position match against Saudi Arabia (39-30, biggest score during the President's Cup), Chile beat Japan for 21st position (35-29), Bahrain dominated Angola for the 23rd position (32-26). In total, 465 goals were scored in Brest, an average of 58 per game, and two players who played this President's Cup are currently in the "top 3" of the top scorer goals, the Angolan Sergio Avelino Lopes (2nd with 47 goals) and Tunisian Amine Bannour (3rd with 45 goals). The final result is therefore very satisfactory in Brest, a great reward for all the people who worked in the field, including the 175 "phenomenal" volunteers, who could be present also for the 2018 European Women’s Handball Championship, organized in Brest, Nantes, Montbeliard, Nancy and Paris.

23 January 2017

The Swedes are ready for the big stage

After hammering Belarus this afternoon (41:22), Sweden will face France on Tuesday for a semi-final spot. The Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille will be most probably sold-out to support “Les Bleus” but the Swedish team doesn’t seem really impressed. “It’s true that the atmosphere is great, we watched a bit of the game France versus Iceland yesterday,” says...

20 January 2017

Discover the knock-out stage fixtures

To be informed of the final stage matches CLICK HERE

19 January 2017

Dinart and his coaching ‘Talant’

For the last group match of the French team, on Thursday (17:45) at Nantes’ Hall XXL, Didier Dinart will face Talant Dujshebaev’s Poland, the world handball legend who changed his game and transmitted to him the vocation of coach. At the final whistle, their handshake will be worth seeing. It will be respectful. Face to face for a France-Poland without stake, Didier Dinart, the French coach, and Talant Dujshebaev, the one of Poland, will find then their beautiful complicity. “He is a reference for me, says the coach of the Experts. I continue to consult him, we exchange a lot”. Both men began this strong connection in Ciudad Real, 190 kilometers south of Madrid, where the French played between 2003 and 2012. The Kyrgyz, who was naturalized Spanish in 1995, was making his first steps as a coach. “He is a great gentleman who permitted me to analyse and completely change my game, at the age of 29, remembers Dinard. Thanks to him, I have learned a lot as a player, but also on the structuring of my training.” The French team, which has often built it successes around the “defensive science” of its Guadeloupean, can therefore thank Talant Dujshebaev, 48 years old. The former best player of the year (1994, 1996), who left for Kielce, in Poland, after the Spanish club’s bankruptcy in July 2013, has always followed his student, which he considers as “the best defender in handball’s history”. He saw him evolving in his role of coach, until being number one of French team. “He has done a good job as a second coach in recent years and now I wish him all the best, said Dujshebaev this week. I know he really likes me and I have a lot of respect for him.” “Talant has a volcanic temper, but always when he has to” On the bench, however, the strong personality of the Frenchman does not equal the “rugged nature” of Dujshebaev. “I get angry sometimes, but Gino (Guillaume Gille) tries to calm me, smiles the former defender. Talant has a volcanic temper, but always when he has to. On the field, he is able to get as angry as possible at you, but it is because he gives you a lot of love outside. The main thing that matters to him is that we are a family”. This approach, which is found in the functioning of the French team – the two coaches are very close to the experienced players, who assume the role of “big brothers” with the young players – has proven itself with Talant. “This gave us the opportunity to do unlikely things”, says Dinart. Like this Champions League final when we’re going to win by five goals in Kiel, after losing by two at home. He’s able to push you a lot”. That season, in 2007-2008, Ciudad Real had won everything, reigning over Europe and achieving a quadruple in Spain. To honor his mentor, Dinart knows what to do : win in Paris, on January 29th. Dujshebaev doesn’t doubt it for a second.

18 January 2017

New handball attendance record to be set!

Le Stade Pierre-Mauroy de Lille Métropole affiche quasiment complet à quelques jours du huitième de finale de l’équipe de France (samedi à 18h00). Avec une capacité de 28 010 places assises dans sa configuration indoor, le grand stade du Nord devrait être le théâtre d’un nouveau record d’affluence dans l’histoire des Championnats du monde de handball. On vous donne les dernières infos qui vous aideront à faire de cet événement historique un souvenir phénoménal !

17 January 2017

Fabregas ready to make up for L. Karabatic’s absence

There were questions after Luka Karabatic’s injury on whether France would be able to find a substitute for him. But the answer came just a couple of minutes after Luka went back to the dressing room: Ludovic Fabregas is definitely up to the task. It was the first bad news for France in this competition....