The clash between the Olympic and African champions was equal until the 21st minute, but the Tokyo 2020 gold medallists, featuring two world championship debutants, stepped up the pace soon after, eventually taking a 10-goal victory.

GROUP A 
France vs Angola 30:20 (13:9)

Their last competitive match was a 30:25 Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 final win against the ROC in August and on Friday in Granollers, France almost ended with an exact same score against Angola in their opening game of the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship, continuing on their winning way, taking down their opponents after finding their rhythm late in the first half.

France coach Olivier Krumbholz handed a competitive debut to Brest Bretagne’s right wing Alicia Toublanc starting her in a side with many familiar faces, despite a turnover since that gold in Japan. 

It took both teams a while to open their accounts, with Angola going ahead (1:0) through a Helena Paulo long-ranger as Krumbholz looked to keep his attack strong after Beatrice Edwige was given a two-minute early on.

Angola kept with the lead, but France kept in touch and the two teams stay locked until the 24th minute when France finally opened up a gap (10:8), prompting coach Felipe Cruz to take Angola’s first time out but it did little to address the French impetus as they went further ahead (13:8) thanks to a 6:0 run (21-27 minutes).

Their comfortable lead continued into the half-time break (13:9) and an opening 4:1 run in the second half saw the game as a contest over (17:10, 38th minute), with a double-figure lead coming with just under 10 minutes left (26:16).

“It was hard in the beginning, we were not scared, but were playing a little bit less than we could play,” said player of the match, France goalkeeper Laura Glauser, “but we kept fighting and that’s why we won tonight.”

Her coach called the result “beautiful” and was happy to get their Spain 2021 challenge underway. 

“It’s a good victory because the score is very good for us,” said Krumbholz. “Our defence was good and our goalkeeper (Laura) was excellent. It’s not very easy to begin a World Championship.”

Toublanc ended with three goals on her step up to the big stage while fellow debutant, ESBF Besançon right wing Lucie Granier, finished with four strikes.

hummel Player of the Match: Laura Glauser, France