betprepare.com

Narcisse: We're experts when it comes to winning

- Just like Gary Lineker once said, France are in handball what Germany are in football. You could say that handball is a game in which 14 men are chasing the ball, but in the end, France always win- Joan Canellas said

France made it into semifinals almost without breaking a sweat. They allowed Slovenia to take the lead only once - in the opening, but Tito Show started very soon, leaving the opponents with no chance. Seven saves by Omeyer in the first quarter of the match, that's a night mare for many teams and France needed just as many goals in the same period of time to get six goals ahead. What ever Slovenia tried to do didn't work and when managing to actually to take a shot past the brilliant defense, there was the greatest goal keeper in the world to stop them. 

- We were untouchable, apart from one period of the in the second half when we weren't focused enough. As soon as we got serious again, the defense and Omeyer did great to lead us into semifinals - Kentin Mahe said after the game.

France had an 8-goal advantage by half time, which was increased to 11 goals after the 3-0 run as the second half started. After that, France played 15 bad minutes in which Slovenia scored 10 goals while conceding 3 to close the game a bit (20-24). Onesta then called for a time-out and only a few minutes later, France was on a new 4-0 run to settle the game and qualify for semifinals. When looking back, France had around 15 minutes of poor performance in the Argentina game too caused by reshuffling. They clearly still have room for improvements even though they're already superior. It's not surprising that Cehte said this after being asked whether he will have a favorite in the semifinal game:

- Of course I do. It's France, they're No.1 candidate for the title!

Mahe didn't agree with him, saying that there are no favorites, regardless of his team's performances so far. What Onesta sees as a possible problem is the similarity between the French and the Spanish handball school. 

- We are like brothers when it come to that, but believe me when I tell you that we won't be brother on the court tomorrow - Onesta said yesterday and added:

- Spain have a lot of top-quality players and I can say it will be a clash between two best teams in the world. But we're 100% ready, even for them and I can't wait for the game. We won many World Championship titles so far and we need to live up to that. Our duty is to play a top-level game and deal with the pressure.

That French player don't fear pressure was confirmed by the well-experienced back Narcisse, who's been doing increasingly better and clearly has no more struggles with the calf: 

- We've won at least two titles in each of the major competitions since 2006 and you could say we're experts in winning. We have the confidence but the knowledge necessary for winning the gold medal as well. Before that though, we need to get through to the final.

They didn't win a medal in Spain two years ago, while the home team and their semifinal opponents claimed the gold. That will, as Luka Karabatic confirmed, be anther boost in motivation for his team that will force France into doing an even more serious match. What will their game be like if they get even better? The fact is that France already seem like a team that can sail through to the title in a superior manner, despite the bad 15 minutes in each game. 

This is the final before the final and no one is claiming otherwise, even though Canellas said that Denmark vs Spain was the same thing. And it was and he settled it with a goal in the final second. Young Barcelona's player Gonzalo Perez de Vargas proved everyone his club was right to believe and invest so much in him since he played a very important role in giving Canellas the chance to take that final shot. He is making the difference for Spain now, while Spain didn't have such a player last year in Denmark (bronze medal). Spain lost the semifinal to France 30-27 back then.

- Just like Gary Lineker once said, France are in handball what Germany are in football. You could say that handball is a game in which 14 men are chasing the ball, but in the end, France always win.

Canellas makes an excellent point since France turned themselves into a legendary team the past few years by managing to stay at the top, expect two years ago when Croatia embarrassed them in Spain. Many though that was the final downfall for France but they have been superior in everything since then. And now seem even more dominant that ever before. What can Spain do today?

- We need to be better in offense than in the previous games. We need to have better flow and read situations better to get goals. Defense is necessary  as of course, especially in a match that will be decided by the smallest things. We played aggressive defense against Denmark and that was the main reason why we won - Canellas said.

- Karabatic is the best player in the world, Omeyer among the top goal keepers, while we don't have stars like that, but we have a team capable of claiming the win - coach Cadenas said.

- We are more powerful, have more alternatives, and a better game than at last EC. We didn't do our best against Denmark, but the most important thing is to know how to play for the win. And this team knows that.

Like everyone else, Cadenas had only compliments for the French...

- They can beat you with counterattacking, defense, offense, or goal keepers. We need to be good in all those segments because they're dangerous in each and every one of them.

France took advantage of numerous stupid mistakes Slovenia made to turn Slovenian running into their own strength. This meeting will be a whole different thing though, with Spain having much more physical power to stand up to France. That might be the key aspect of this semifinal. Cadenas will force France into using up a lot of energy and then try and score on the other end. But, Spain's offense is not as good as French and will depend of special inspiration by Entrerrios-Canellas-Maqueda. As good and inspired they get, as much chance will Spain have. 

I'm not sure whether it's easy or difficult to be writing a tip that can be explained with a single sentence - France are simply one level ahead of Spain. Hats off to Spain for not dropping a single point but what they will be faced with today is out of this world. Spain play great defense but they will struggle a lot against the French defense. To get past the wall made of six extremely tough and tactically well-trained players and then face Omeyer - that's almost impossible to handle. Spain struggled against Belarus, couldn't score a goal for the last 7 minutes against Brazil (!) to win by two goals, scored only 8 goals in a half against Qatar, while Slovenia sent their substitutes to take on Spain. Defense and transition is what saved them in every game, not offense. They don't have great talent on that end of the floor, Aguinagalde is great, but everyone else is just good and nothing special compared to Karabatic. Maqueda is the worse of the three Spanish back players and Omeyer left him at 2 goals in 12 shots in the last head-to-head meeting last year. French took an early lead in that match and then allowed Spain to get back in the game. I think that is the most Spain can do - make the complicated but not able to win it. It was horrible to see how helpless Slovenia and Argentina were in the start of their games with France. Slovenia scored their 2nd goal 14 minutes into the game, Argentina 11 minutes in. Spain didn't do much better in that head-to-head last year when they scored only 2 goals in the first 12 minutes (7-2). Spain's first half team under is therefore not a bad option (12-5), but the widely-available French win is my option here.