On November 22, 2018, Pauletta Foppa wore the French team jersey for the first time with the A, and no longer with the youth selection, during a Golden League match against Denmark. At just 17 years and eleven months, she discovered a new world. Like recently a certain Warren Zaire-Emery, the Paris SG footballer who was called up by Didier Deschamps for the first time in November at the age of 17 and a half. Two different disciplines, but a certain number of points in common, which the handball player laughs about: “It made me laugh when I saw that he had to ask for parental authorization to go to Greece to play a match with the French team, because I too had to do the same thing. There are lots of similarities in our backgrounds because we started in the selection at the same age. It makes me a little nostalgic.”
Indeed, since her beginnings, Pauletta Foppa has come a long way. Beyond the 71 selections that she now has on the clock, the pivot has above all greatly expanded her record with a European title in 2018, and an Olympic consecration in Tokyo in 2021. Hence her strong desire to complete the loop during this World Championship organized in Scandinavia. “I want to win, to leave there with the gold medal around my neck,” the Brest player confided to Le Figaro at the Maison du Handball in Créteil, before flying to Norway. “I narrowly missed it in 2021 (defeat in the final against Norway 22-29), and I would like to win it before I turn 25.” An exceptional precocity, all the more impressive since Foppa is not content to play useful roles within this France team, of which she is a major element, offensively and perhaps even more defensively.
“I don’t see myself as a 22-year-old because casually, I’m starting to be one of the older ones in this group,” she readily admits. “I’ve been here for a while, I’ve already had a certain number of experiences with the French team and compared to those who have just arrived, I’m part of the executives. This pleases me. In defense, I take a lot more responsibility than before and even in the game, I feel that I have reached a milestone. It must be said that the native of Amilly, in Loiret, also collects individual distinctions: best pivot of the 2021 Olympics, of the World Championship the same year and again of the Euro last year despite only 4th place for the Bleues . Even if she is not a “scoring machine”, Foppa has very sure hands in attack and an exceptional impact and reading of the opposing game in defense. At an age, therefore, where the majority of players are just starting their international career.
“I was lucky to arrive in the French team at the right time, when the girls were winning everything or almost everything,” she remembers. “And then Olivier (Krumbholz, the coach) was very cool and nice with me, immediately telling me not to put pressure on myself. He told me that I had carte blanche and that if I made a mistake, it would be the teammate next to me who would take the blame for me (laughs). He somehow let me live my youth, even if I made lots of mistakes. So I didn’t have this pressure to tell myself that I absolutely had to perform well from the start otherwise I wouldn’t be called up again. It gave me time to settle in and flourish.” Since then, her coach’s confidence has never wavered, even when Pauletta Foppa had some slightly more difficult times.
And obviously there’s no point in asking her if she thinks that everything may have happened a little quickly for her. “I think it’s a real plus to start very young because we gain experience earlier, we’re a step ahead of our generation,” she analyzes with maturity. “Even if today, young people are throwing heavy stuff earlier and earlier. Previously, a player was considered young at the highest level until the age of 22 or 23. Now, I’m not going to say that it’s old but players break through more easily even before their 20s. Then it’s up to us to stay ahead by working harder. Which is not always easy because when you do everything very quickly, it is legitimate, at some point, to want to take a breath and relax a little. I speak from experience in 2021 when I had to do the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the summer, then the World Cup in December with the club in between, it was a lot at once. And at the same time, it’s so much happiness and a sporting career, it only lasts a while so you have to sink your teeth into it.”
However, she recognizes without tongue in cheek that climbing the ladder so quickly is not without having an impact on mental health. “At first, I wasn’t aware of this. But over time, with this constant requirement to perform, it has an impact on the mental level. We’re not going to lie to each other, having less good matches, being criticized, it affects us. Especially when you string together three or four insufficient performances, you quickly ask yourself: but when will I bounce back? This induces a certain anxiety, and also a form of intransigence towards oneself. So, being supported on a mental level seems like a real plus to me, especially when you’re young.” Not to mention the support of her loved ones and her family, who regularly come to Brest to see her play and support her if necessary.
But before diving back into her club season, and even more before focusing on the Games in Paris, Pauletta Foppa wants to adorn herself with world gold. “I still have trouble planning for the month of July,” she admits. “I have never won this World Championship and I would like to change that. We have great collective strength, we all get along well and we all have the same desire. And in my eyes, it is easier to focus on a short-term objective than a longer-term one. This will therefore require success this Friday (9:00 p.m.), in the semi-final, against Sweden, the only other team to have won all their matches since the start of the competition. A great challenge, commensurate with the 22 springs of the pivot of Les Bleues.
