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France feast as Korea are downed

17 Jul. 2019

France feast as Korea are downed

A second win in two days against two different continental teams highlights the power of France who look to be one of the main challengers for the Spain 2019 title.

GROUP B
Republic of Korea vs France 32:46 (15:26)

The fans inside the As Travesas Sport Hall in Vigo tonight may have witnessed one of the standout performances at the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship so far as the European championship runners-up France effectively dispatched Asian champions Republic of Korea in the third and final match of the day.

The 1998-generation of French players – who all play their club handball in France – have many medals to their names already and they showed tonight why another one is surely in the pipeline as they displayed ruthlessness, energy and power against the Koreans, scoring nearly 50 times.

To win any global event, sports teams must adapt to different opponents with different styles, tactics and ways of playing and France have done that twice in two days, against two continental styles – Nigeria yesterday and Korea tonight.

The damage was done by France well before half-time with a double-figure lead already by the 12th minute (12:2) as Korea were blown away by the sheer physical and technical force of their opponents. Manho Kim called a time out for his shocked team, but France kept up their urgency against the 3-2-1 and 3-3 active Asian defence, easily finding gaps in the Korean backline.

Edouard Kempf ended the half with seven strikes from seven attempts for France and he was backed up by eight saves (14 in total in the game) from his goalkeeper Valentin Kieffer, behind a 6-0 defensive line which ventured into a solitary man out to nullify the varied Korea attack who could only register 15 goals in the first 30 minutes.

Down the other end the Koreans could only manage five saves in the opening 30 minutes as Johann Delattre’s side took an 11-goal lead into the break (26:15).

The second half saw the Europeans in front by at least throughout with the distance too much for Korea to catch up. With five minutes remaining, France took a double-figure lead again (42:32) thanks to Kempf and the French powered ahead to a distance of 14 in the final five minutes.

Kempf ended with a perfect scoring record (12/12) and the best player of the match, Kyllian Villeminot, grabbed nine from 11 attempts. Jinyoung Kim scored 10 for Korea to end as the top-scorer for his side.

Best Player of the Match: Kyllian Villeminot (FRA)