On Wednesday 15 January at 17:56 local time, the first notes of ‘Liberté’, the national anthem of Guinea, started echoing around the Arena Varaždin.

It was an historic moment for the west African nation as they took to the court for their first-ever IHF Men’s World Championship game.

Reality bites early on, but history made

As expected, the 16-man squad on court, plus the coaching staff, support staff and a small pocket of fans inside the 5,200-capacity playing hall all sung their hearts out, ending with a salute to the anthem and flag which means so much to them.

But facing them were the Luc Steins-led Netherlands side – themselves in just their third world championship. And while the Europeans took an eventual 40:23 (21:8) victory in the preliminary group D opener, that did not stop it being a special occasion for the Guinean team.

“It is a lot of emotions, because every handball player dreams to live this moment; dreams to sing the national anthem during such a competition,” said Guinea centre back David Michee Eponouh to ihf.info after the match. “It’s a huge pride for each player to live this moment – an unforgettable moment.”

“It’s a little bit difficult to describe the feeling we had when we heard our anthem here in Varazdin and to sing it together,” explained Guinea left wing Adjiri Yven Corcher. “This (being on court) is our first victory. It's a big day for our country, for our team and for our families.”

Corcher finished with two goals, while teammate Eponouh registered five – the first of which was the most important – the first-ever for the nation at an IHF Men’s World Championship.

Eponouh, who plays his club handball for French Nationale 1 Masculine side Draguignan Var Handball, finally opened the Guinea account after six minutes from the nine-metre line after the side had missed their first seven attacks.

“Scoring the first Guinean goal in history makes me feel really happy,” said the 25-year-old. “I am extremely proud and proud to represent my country. It was a huge test for me to be in front of this type of team and it is not the level I am used to play, but I personally aspire to progress. I managed to score, and I am proud of myself, but I can progress even more and, why not, reach the top level: that's my dream.”

A game of two halves

With Kevin Decaux’s side slow out of the blocks scoring in the opening minutes, it was no surprise that the Netherlands took a healthy 13-goal lead (21:8) into the break. 

But whatever was said at half-time in the Guinea locker room worked wonders as they came out firing in the second half, outscoring their opponents 10:9 (to make it 30:18 overall) inside the first 15 minutes against a Dutch side not yet fully rotated and including Steins, Kay Smits and others.

“In the first half we struggled a bit because the competition is new for us – we had a bit of fear, a bit of apprehension, so coach asked us to feel freer during the game, to release the pressure because it’s a hard competition and very new for us,” explained Eponouh about the discussions at the pause.

“He told us to play and focus on the simple things; for example, in attack by shooting from far and not necessarily going too close to their defence and running a lot. While in defence he said to try to move by following the other team. That’s why we were more relaxed and freer in our heads in the second half. This allowed us to score many goals in the second half.”

“At half-time, there was a little outburst; we had to be remotivated,” said coach Decaux to ihf.info with a smile. “First, we needed to throw the balls in the goal and be efficient, because we were not during the first half; we lost too many balls and made bad throws. We were too contemplative and didn't play good; but in the second half, we played with more impact. We focused, were more assiduous and scored – that’s what made the difference.

“The second half was honourable and they showed what they are supposed to do for this entire world championship: play with no complex.”

Mutual respect and learning

Sitting across from Decaux on the Netherlands coaching staff was former playing legend Staffan Olsson, now head coach of the Dutch, but with experience all around the world as both player and coach.

And the Swede knows all about helping the development of an up-and-coming nation, having been the performance director for the national teams of the United States of America back in 2019.

“I know that this is the first time they are taking part in an IHF Men’s World Championship, the first step, so congrats for that,” said the 60-year-old to ihf.info. “I'm happy they were fighting the whole game and that was good for us. With the work they are doing, they need to continue with it and then I'm quite sure that we will see even better results from them in the future.”

Those comments brought a smile to Decaux’s face, who had his own personal historic milestone on Wednesday – it was also his first game as a head coach at an IHF World Championship, having been involved in a variety of roles and countries over the years.

And he was quick to point out his own takeaways from the game.

“As a coach I learnt that this high level does not forgive anything,” he explained. “Each wasted ball during the game, we pay for. We need to perform and be efficient: that’s what the high level is, but I am proud because the team revised their play and never threw in the towel (gave up). That is very good to see and I am convinced of what they can do and that we will do better in the next match.”

“We saw what the worldwide level is,” adds Corcher, who plays his club handball in France for Angers SCO Handball, about the debut game. “It was a good experience for us and will help us to get prepared for the rest of the competition. We will see what we can do and like coach said, I'm pretty sure that for the other games, we will get better and better.

“The coach and the players from the Netherlands respected us and played very well. They played their level without doing silly things and I want to say ‘thank-you’ to them, because we are here to fight and to play handball.

“We are a team who never gives up no matter the opponent,” added the 26-year-old. “Once we are in the good mood, warmed up and free to play, it allows us to put even more energy and play with confidence, because in this competition we have nothing to lose.”

Stepping onto court in Croatia it is clear – Guinea have nothing to lose and will give their all. No matter what the results may be over the next weeks, they can now say they are an established global team and looking forward to the next chapter in their story.

“I remember when we started in 2012 and now it's 2025 – it’s been 13 years, a long path, but what a path,” says a reflective Decaux, who has been involved in the development of the team throughout that period. 

“I am proud of the steps we climbed up and proud to see all the players here, gathered together again”.

With thanks to Aymeric Rio and Bryan Jabea for the translation