Between the summer of 2008 and the summer of 2012, France were the team to beat in men’s handball. It was the moment when the players decided to call themselves ‘Les Experts’, a nickname which does not need any translation.

The emergence of a vintage team was on display at the IHF Men’s World Championship in Germany 2007, when France finished fourth, failing to win a medal for the fourth tournament in a row.

Yet, that missed chance was the precise moment when everything started to click. Between Beijing 2008 and London 2012, France embarked on a superb run, winning everything that was to win, with 40 victories and five draws in 50 matches at the Olympic Games, IHF Men’s World Championships and the Men’s EHF EUROs.

Something had to give and with ageing players, France were on a plateau. Since January 2017, ‘Les Experts’ did not win a major tournament, sealing only two bronze medals, at the IHF Men’s World Championship 2019 and at the EHF EURO 2018.

A new generation was groomed and slowly ushered in, with mixed results. The EHF EURO 2020 was a disaster, as France finished 14th, their worst-ever result in the competition.

However, Egypt 2021, where France finished fourth after starting the tournament with seven wins in a row, could be the starting point of something great. Like Germany 2007 all over again.

“Ambitious, yet still humble”

Since 1992, when France qualified for the Olympic Games for the first time, ‘Les Experts’ did not miss an Olympic Games berth. The last time France had to play an Olympic Qualifying Tournament was in 2008, when a certain Guillaume Gille was one of the most experienced centre backs in world handball.

Now 44, Gille has made the next step and went into coaching. His biggest challenge? To put France back to the top.

“We are ambitious, yet still humble. But we know what we have to do to make France look good and play good,” said Gille to FranceTV prior to the Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020 in Montpellier.

It was not a complete makeover, as experience is key in elite handball and Gille knows it. France’s average age for the tournament in Montpellier is 30.1 years, the highest of all 12 teams that are vying for an Olympic Games berth this weekend.

With key contributors like backs Dika Mem and Nedim Remili and line player Ludovic Fabregas, though, who are all under 25 years old, the future looks assured.

The current crop of youth players is still backed by veterans like goalkeeper Yann Genty or captain Michael Guigou, who are both 39 years old, and are likely to never have the chance to feature at the Olympic Games again.

Guigou has donned the national team shirt with Gille between 2002 and 2012 and won the gold medal twice at the Olympic Games and once at the IHF Men’s World Championship together with his coach.

He has seen it all and needs only seven goals to become the fourth-ever player to reach the ‘1,000 goals scored’ milestone for France – after Jerome Fernandez, Nikola Karabatic and Frederic Volle.

“After a few months with these players, we are still trying to grow together. For that, you need moments to toughen you up. This is what happened against Croatia on Friday and we needed that to be better,” said Guigou, after scoring once in the first game of the Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020, a 30:26 French win against Croatia.

Growing pains

Still, there are probably things that need to be corrected. At Egypt 2021, France were flawless until the semi-finals, winning against the likes of Norway, Hungary and Portugal. Yet, there were things to worry about, with ‘Les Experts’ being unable to snatch a win against Sweden, in a game where their defence and goalkeepers looked clueless at times against the sheer speed of the Scandinavian side.

Gille knows this.

“There were some difficult moments after finishing the EHF EURO 2020. But we went back and challenged for the medals, with some things needing tweaking,” added the French coach.

With several players retired, superstar Nikola Karabatic injured, losing other players during Egypt 2021 due to injury, France are left in a little bit of disarray.

Karabatic might be back for a final salvo at Tokyo 2020, provided that France qualify. The players know that and are also playing for his sake.

“If France qualify, I don’t know if I am 100 per cent fit but that is my goal. I want to be ready to prepare for the Games and have the chance to fight for a place in the team,” said Karabatic, a two-time Olympic champion, to the official website of Tokyo 2020.

France proved that they can do without Karabatic for the moment. However, having a three-time IHF Men’s World Player of the Year in the roster will help.

In any way, this resilient France side might have something special going for them. A little bit of nurturing and 2021 can be the moment where everything falls into place.

Photo: FFHandball / Icon Sport