HANDBALL. The French women’s team begins this 2023 Handball World Cup with a close victory against Angola in a more than close match (30-29).
22:20 – Match summary
The Blues managed to enter the competition with great difficulty by defeating Angola (30-29). The start of the match is sluggish. It is the Angolans who are in the lead for a good first part of the first act. The Blues are more than clumsy, especially on counterattacks and one-on-ones. The French finished the first period with 60% shooting efficiency but managed to adjust the sights a little more in the last minutes of the first act. This will allow Olivier Krumbholz’s players to lead by three goals at half-time without convincing. The second act is not more convincing and France is not transformed. Despite everything, the job is well done and the double world champions will not relinquish the advantage despite very big thrills. Angola panics a little and ends up letting go a little when returning from the locker room. The Blues manage to take a five-goal lead but will have fun scaring themselves in the final moments. Indeed, while the hole seems to have been made, the French will once again lose track of the match and let the Angolans come back to the level a few minutes from the end of the match. Tamara Horacek restores a goal lead in the last minute. But the Angolans have one last opportunity to equalize but the post will save Laura Glauser and the French. This narrow success will, perhaps, have had the effect of a trigger in the heads of Olivier Krumbholz’s players who will play a second match this Saturday against Iceland.
22:07 – Confirmation against Iceland?
The next match of the Blues in this Handball World Cup Women’s will take place this Saturday against Iceland at 6 p.m. Olivier Krumbholz’s players will also certainly be keen to add to their potential success.
22:02 – “We played badly,” admits Krumbholz
The Bleues coach debriefed this France – Angola at the microphone of Bein Sports a few seconds after the end of the match: “We take the points for victory. Overall we played badly because we put ourselves in a tough place mentally by missing shots in favorable positions. We panicked in attack with the narrow score. Opposite, they played intelligently.”
9:57 p.m. – The post saves the Blues! France wins by a small goal!
What a thrill in the last second of France – Angola! The post saved the Blues who ended up winning by a small goal. Victory will be the main lesson of this sluggish evening for Olivier Krumbholz’s players.
9:55 p.m. – Flippes gives Les Bleues the lead again! (60′)
It’s very very hot in this end of France – Angola! Laura Flippes allows the Bleues to get back in front with a nice breakthrough. The Angolan coach calls a timeout before his team’s last possession in this match.
21:54 – Angolan equalizer! (59′)
What suspense at the end of France – Angola! Guialo allows his team to come back to the level of the French!
21:53 – Lassource hits the bar (58′)
Another amount touched by France in this meeting. Coralie Lassource hits this crossbar and the Angolans still have an opportunity to equalize.
21:51 – Glauser makes a decisive save (57′)
This Laura Glauser parade is good! The goalkeeper of the French team repels the Angolans’ equalizing ball.
9:49 p.m. – Nothing is going well for the Blues! (57′)
The French advance melts completely in these last minutes of France – Angola. The Blues only have a small goal lead against the Angolans who give up at the end of the match.
9:49 p.m. – Five minutes left and nothing is done (55′)
Five minutes from the end of this France – Angola, the Blues only lead by two small goals. How complicated it is for French women.
21:45 – Krumbholz’s time out (53’)
The Blue coach requests a time out in this France – Angola to resolve defensive concerns, particularly the isolation of Kassoma, which has posed some problems for the French since the start of this meeting.
21:42 – The biggest gap for the French (50′)
Olivier Krumbholz’s players accelerate at the right time in this France – Angola and take a five-goal lead thanks to Nze Minko’s powerful strike.
9:40 p.m. – Lassource again, the Blues breathe a little more (49′)
The Angolan coach decides to take a timeout a little more than ten minutes from the end of this France – Angola after a slump in his team sanctioned by Coralie Lassource.
21:39 – Glauser is back and doing good (48′)
The French goalkeeper marks her return with a good save which allows her team and Lasource to go on the counter and deceive the Angolan goalkeeper in this France – Angola. +3 for France.
21:37 – Horacek misses from 7 meters (46′)
Another failure from 7 meters for the Blues in this France – Angola. Tamara Horacek hits the post.
21:32 – Valentini reassures the Blues (42′)
The French number six is clinical on the counter and manages to deceive the opposing goalkeeper and gives her team a two-goal lead in this France – Angola which still remains quite undecided even if the Blues seem much superior.
21:31 – Pascoal logically sanctioned (41′)
The Angolan number 20 is logically punished with two minutes after several blows in the face of Foppa who had recovered. The Africans had an equalizing ball in this France – Angola.
21:29 – Another failure! (39′)
Toublanc comes up against Alberto again in a new face-to-face encounter. What clumsiness of French women in this area since the start of this France – Angola.
21:28 – A 6th goal for Toublanc (38′)
Alicia Toublanc achieves a big France – Angola and gives her team a three-goal lead after just under ten minutes played in this second half.
21:27 – Santos makes his team’s first throw from 7 meters (36′)
Sako can do nothing in front of Santos and brings Angola to within two goals of France. The Blues are continuing their first period.
21:24 – Flippes does not tremble (33′)
The first goal of the Blues in this second period of France – Angola is scored by Laura Flippes who succeeds in her one-on-one against the Angolan goalkeeper.
21:22 – Pascoual unlocks the counter (32′)
It was she who scored the last goal of the first period of this France – Angola and it was also Pascoual who opened the counter in the second act.
21:21 – A first save for Sako (31′)
Already a save for Sako on the first strike of this second half from France – Angola.
9:20 p.m. – It’s back to Stavanger!
The two teams are back on the floor of the DNB Arena in Stavanger, Norway to play the second period of this France – Angola which still remains rather undecided despite the advantage of three goals for the Blue.
9:05 p.m. – It’s the break with a sublime goal!
France leads by three goals at the break against Angola after a very sluggish first act for the Blues who could have taken much more shelter. Pascoual scored a free kick in the last second in this first act.