Gerard inspires France for fourth win in a row

18 Jan. 2023

Gerard inspires France for fourth win in a row

For the fourth time in the last seven editions of the IHF Men’s World Championship, France have started the competition with four wins in four matches after throwing off the main round phase at Poland/Sweden 2023 in style with a 35:24 win over Montenegro.

Main Round Group I

France vs Montenegro 35:24 (16:13)

Without delivering heavy blows, France pulled no punches in the preliminary round at Poland/Sweden 2023, securing three wins in the first three matches in Katowice before moving to Krakow, where they were aiming to improve their winning streak to six in the main round.

The first chance? A match against Montenegro, a team with an impressive attack that secured two wins in the preliminary round but was starting the main round with two points due to their loss against Spain. The bottom line was that if France won, “Les Experts” would have much improved their chances of making the quarter-finals at the IHF Men’s World Championship for the 16th time in a row, a streak dating back to Sweden 1993.

And indeed, they did win, creating another excellent performance on both sides of the ball, in a match where “Les Experts” were definitely inspired by goalkeeper Vincent Gérard, who had an outstanding match.

By the 10th minute of the match, Gérard, who was named the hummel Player of the Match, had already racked up six saves for a 60% saving efficiency. 12 minutes later, he was boasting a nine-save tally. And by the end of the match, the shot-stopper was virtually unbeatable, saving three penalties to finish the match with 15 saves for an outstanding 45% efficiency, one of the best individual performances so far at Poland/Sweden 2023.

But that would have meant nothing if France did not display a good attacking performance once again, continuing the trend set in the preliminary round where they were one of the five teams to hit at least 100 goals scored in the first three matches of the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship.

This was another testament to the trend started by France in the last few months, where all of the players at Guillaume Gille’s disposal delivered excellent performances in at least one match of a tournament. 

The top scorer of the match? Right back Melvyn Richardson, who scored 10 goals after putting only four goals on the scoreboard in the previous three matches in the preliminary round. In total, only two France players failed to appear on the scoresheet, with no outfield player featuring for over 36 minutes during the match.

In fact, this was not only Richardson’s best-ever performance in three editions at the IHF Men’s World Championship, but he also scored more goals than he had in the previous edition of the competition, hitting nine goals at Egypt 2021.

It was another good, albeit rather linear, performance for France, who had a 4:0 early run in the first half to create their first five-goal lead, 10:5, one that the reigning Olympic champions never relinquished.

While Montenegro did try to cut into that lead, they were never allowed to get closer than four goals thanks to Gérard’s otherworldly display, with the constant flurry of saves chipping into Montenegro’s morale.

Eventually, the reigning Olympic champions delivered another commanding win, 35:24, confirming their status as one of the teams to beat at Poland/Sweden 2023, as their experience, depth, and quality are next to none in the competition.

With six points, France are major candidates for another quarter-final berth, their 16th in a row in the competition, with a win against the Islamic Republic of Iran on Friday all but sealing it. On the other hand, Montenegro have only two points and have a mountain to climb, with the chances of progressing out of their hands.

hummel Player of the Match: Vincent Gérard (France)