They are there. The players of the French women’s handball team qualified for the semi-finals of the World Cup thanks to their victory against the Czech Republic (33-22) on Tuesday in Trondheim (Norway).
The Blues will face Sweden or Germany on Friday in Herning (Denmark), who face each other on Wednesday in the quarter-finals. Two days after their exploit against Norway (24-23), they distanced themselves after half-time (18-16). The reigning Olympic champions, however, took around forty minutes to get the measure of their opponent, the fault in particular of the eight balls lost at half-time, and a few failures on easy shots.
Laura Glauser’s goal performance
In front of a short header at the break (18-16), the Blues waited until the start of the last quarter of an hour to break away (25-19, 45th). They were led by their captain, Estelle Nze Minko (5 goals from 6 attempts, including three in the first eight minutes of the second half), who rushed into the spaces gradually left by the Czechs, who did not keep up the frantic pace imposed by France.
The Blues were especially able to count on the performance of Laura Glauser, exceptional in goal (12 saves on 18 shots, all in the second half). Already decisive on Sunday against Norway, the goalkeeper entered at the start of the second half in place of Hatadou Sako, disgusting the Czech attackers behind a still aggressive defense (12 saves on 18 shots, all in the second half). Laura Glauser was voted player of the match.
