Guillaume Gille ensured that France’s record of never having gone back-to-back major competitions in the 21st century without a medal can stay alive for at least another game, as they showed their spirit against a dogged Hungarian side, to win 35:32 after one period of additional time.

QUARTER-FINALS 
France vs Hungary 35:32 (12:14, 30:30)

France and Hungary adopted different approaches going into this game with Gille choosing his key players to knock the stuffing out of Portugal (32:23) in their last game and then naming the exact same 20 players this evening.

Hungary coach Istvan Gulyas sent out a much-changed team to the one which lost 28:36 to Spain a day later than France, resting key players including captain Roland Mikler, line player Bence Banhidi and centre back Mate Lekai before bringing them back into the quarter-final squad. Gulyas also brought back in right wing Pedro Rodriguez Alvarez, who has been in and out of the squad during Egypt 2021 due to the rule on no more than two naturalised players in a squad.

France, however, were able to demonstrate their clear advantage – a deep and long bench, although it took some time to be evidenced, after a terrible start for Gille’s side.

Their attacks were malfunctioning and so was their defence. And with just 60 seconds on the clock, following a Dika Mem turnover, Kentin Mahe received a two-minute suspension after interfering with Zoltan Szita when the Hungarian left back was attempting to break through. 

Veszprem club teammate Mate Lekai then showed what he thought of the challenge by drawing the lines of an invisible TV in the direction of the referees. For Mahe, his six opening minutes were his role in the entire 60, perhaps he was just too well-known to the opposition.

Finally, after five minutes Ludovic Fabregas broke the French deadlock (1:2), but that would be the last goal they scored until the 12th minute (2:7, Michael Guigou) as the Hungarians spread the goals around – leading, incredibly, 9:3 a minute later.

However, with such a glittering history and experience on court, France can never be written off and so they started the long comeback, within one by the 22nd minute and going into the break two behind (12:14).

They had survived, and with the knowledge that they would be turning the bench, such has become the usual routine for Gille’s men here in Giza.

For Hungary, they have not the same luxury, with Alvarez and Lekai playing the entire first 30 minutes while Bence Banhidi, for many one of the best line players in the world, was limited in attack (2/2) in the opening half but led the defence which had been so effective in stopping the French from scoring as Alvarez played the outlying defender in a hurrying 5-1 defensive formation.

The second period saw Yann Genty, Valentin Porte and Hugo Descat all start to get their first seconds of the match and it pushed France to go ahead just 10 minutes in (20:19) when Valentin Porte scored his third unanswered in a row.

But Banhidi, who played all but 10 seconds of the 70 minutes, was doing his best to be a one-man Hungarian wall, and the teams were deadlocked going into the last 10 minutes (25:25) as a volleyball-style full block from the MOL-Pick Szeged line player highlighted just how important he is to his country.

With five minutes remaining, a Dika Mem rocket put his side clear by three (30:27) and it looked like the game was over but four missed shots and a Romain Lagarde turnover allowed the Hungarians back in and the game went to additional time at 30:30. 

Hungary then went ahead early on, capitalising on a Hugo Descat penalty miss (31:30), but France pushed on again, stopping them from scoring for nearly seven minutes.

A forced misplaced pass from Hungary (32:31, 64th minute) was immediately met by a Ludovic Fabregas ‘calm down’ gesture to his bench, sensing the victory theirs, and when Nicolas Tournat scored with just over 90 seconds remaining (34:32) and Lekai turned over the ball, Mem and Descat released their adrenaline, with their place in the semi-final secured, where they will face Sweden on Friday (29 January).

“It was a big fight,” said Gulyas after the match. “In the first half we dominated with our defence and our goalkeeping, France then developed, and it was a balanced game. At the end of the regular playing time the (30:30) draw was well-deserved for both teams.

“Our players fought very well and gave more than 100%, I am very proud of them and congratulate them. As this is the end of our tournament, I would like to thank Egypt for their organisation.”

“We played an incredible game today but to play this game you need two good opponents,” said Gille. “Hungary played very good at the beginning of the game and it was tough to find a way back to victory. We are very proud of this game because it has allowed us to reach the final four, the semi-finals and play for medals.”

For captain Michael Guigou, he was more to the point. “Tonight, we win, it’s the most important thing,” he said. “Despite making a bad start, the most important thing is to win, there is no more important word to say.”

hummel Player of the Match: Bence Banhidi, Hungary