The Blues will play a second match in Nantes on Saturday, this time against Brazil, before heading to Germany to compete in the European Championship (January 10-28), a competition which has eluded them since 2014.
At the start of the match, everything went very quickly for France on the floor of Hall -0). Tunisia coach Patrick Cazal was pushed to use two of his three timeouts in the first quarter of an hour, clearly dominated by the French (11-3). But the rest of the match was a little messier for the Blues, who showed less intensity and often lacked technical accuracy.
There was “a very solid start where we saw a very beautiful face of the French team”, underlined Guillaume Gille, the coach of the French team, at the microphone of BeIN Sports, before recognizing that several actions “were peppered with careless errors, which gives a somewhat mixed feeling about this second half”. One of the questions surrounding the match was the choice of the coach for the goalkeeper position, since the emblematic goalkeeper Vincent Gérard, injured, will not play in the Euro.
It was therefore Desbonnet who was chosen for the first half, during which he made 6 saves and even scored a goal, his third in the French jersey. In the second half, Charles Bolzinger replaced him in the cage and was able to demonstrate the impact of his large build (1m98 for 100 kg), notably making an impressive double save upon returning to the floor (31st). This match will serve as a “good working basis to prepare for the days to come,” commented Gille.
The French will begin their European adventure on January 10 against North Macedonia in a tough group which also includes Germany, who will play at home, and Switzerland. Tunisia, a major team on the African continent with its 10 record titles at the African Nations Championship but currently in decline, will play the CAN in Egypt from January 19 to 29, where a coronation will be synonymous with qualification for the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
