Milliseconds, transitional change and leadership – France are a team going places
29 Jan. 2025
France extended their run to seven straight victories at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship on Tuesday (28 January) with a 34:33 quarter-final victory over Egypt, despite their opponents coming back from a five-goal second half deficit to draw equal with just three seconds left of the game.
Final seconds, final milliseconds
Somewhat incredibly, Remi Desbonnet in the France goal, scooped the ball up from the net following that Yahia Omar leveller, pivoted to face forward, before passing to Luka Karabatic who restarted with a bullet shot which crossed the Egyptian goal-line with 59.59.7 seconds on the clock.
“Point 7? Oh, may days, that’s crazy shit, honestly,” said a shocked Nedim Remili to ihf.info after the match. “I was in the middle of the court, looking for the ball. I called Luka to give me the ball but it wasn’t that I wanted to be the last scorer, I thought we had more time than there was. Luka made the right play.”
“We were lucky that Luka could score the goal,” added Dika Mem. “It's not practice, but we know that Remi is really good with this pass. As players, this is why we want to play in these kinds of games. We train for these games. At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games it was six seconds (against Germany) and we lost the game. I mean that’s the sport, and also the beauty of the spot, that's also why the fans love to come and see the game.”
“It’s the magic of handball. It was an incredible action,” said Melvyn Richardson, with Desbonnet having the last say on one of the latest-ever IHF Men's World Championship goals.
“To be honest, I would have preferred to stop the last shot than do a good pass, but in the end, my team won,” said a smiling Desbonnet.
“In this moment, you have no time to think about anything. You try to do what you have done all your life as best you can. All my career I try to be the first attacker when I play and this is one of my strengths. It's my pass, but Luka was crazy and perfect. I said after the Olympics Games that sometimes you smile, sometimes you cry, and this time, we smile.”
Reset, rebuild and stepping up
Those smiles were evident on the French delegation, as wide as the Arena Zagreb is high. And it is a France team in transition with the traditional post-Olympic Games player change as the next four-year cycle begins. Players have a break; some start families, some have operations which have been delayed and some retire.
For France, Vincent Gérard, Valentin Porte and Timothey N'Guessan all announced their retirement in addition to the legendary France icon, and brother to Luka, Nikola Karabatic.
Karabatic represented the last playing link to a group of players coached by Claude Onesta fondly nicknamed ‘Les Experts’ after the French translation of the ‘CSI’ television show.
‘Les Experts’ dominated world men’s handball from the mid-2000s onwards, starting with 2008 Olympic Games, 2009 IHF Men's World Championship and 2010 European Championship gold – becoming the first men’s team to hold all three titles – before going on to podium in all three events again and again.
Current France coach Guillaume Gille was also part of ‘Les Experts’, and now, from the other side of the line, has guided his team to a last four spot, ensuring an incredible record of the country appearing in the semi-finals of every IHF Men’s World Championship in the 2000s – with the exception of 2013 (6th). A total of 13, including the one currently underway.
And with the exception of the 36-year-old Luka Karabatic, who was on 162 appearances for the national team before the start of the world championship, Remili (29/136), Dika Mem (27/126) and Ludovic Fabregas (28/151) now find themselves as the most experienced players in the squad, leading the team who, together, are now looking to make their own mark in world handball.
“It’s been a long time. I have a lot of appearances, almost 150. I’m almost a vet (veteran) in this team,” jokes Remili. “Dika, Ludo (Fabregas) and I now have a new role, a new duty and we know we have to impact the team about this mindset. I have a lot of huge responsibility on this team. I like to have the responsibility that I try to help my teammates as much as I can.
“I get some feedback on this, for sure, because I'm a pretty vocal guy, I like to talk, especially loudly. It’s over 10 years I've been playing for the international team, and we know that our role has increased after the retiring of the guys, especially Niko (Karabatic). Dika, Ludo and I have more responsibility all-around the team, and not just with handball, but it’s not about doing too much – that’s the real balance in this team.”
And does history play on his mind?
“We know the legacy of ‘Les Experts’, this crazy team who won everything,” adds Remili. “This is our legacy. We go through it and know that we have to play our role. I think we are doing pretty well, just pushing every training. We're all kind of the same age, and that creates this good atmosphere around us. We are all really close friends and these guys, even the new guys, they like to win, and that’s the mentality of French handball players: they like to win.”
“We have learned a lot about these legends and every time you wear this jersey, you feel all the history, all the legend behind you,” adds Desbonnet. “You know that you have such a pressure on your shoulders, but if you don't like pressure, you don't play at the highest level. It's a good pressure for me, a privilege to play for this team, but you need to put 100% and more on every game. That's what it's all about.
“They show a lot of determination, a lot of experience in the big moments and take the lead of the team in them,” remarked the goalkeeper about the senior trio of Mem, Fabregas and Remili. “Now, they are the leaders of the team. It's so good to feel this confidence about your biggest players during the last moments and at the end it's our oldest player that scored the last goal which is a good image.
“It's a good pressure to go after this legend and now we are leading our country to the semi-final. We hope it's just the beginning. We really want to write our own history.”
Taking care of the team – and themselves
So, what does Remili define ‘responsibility’ as?
“It’s about taking the good decision in the right moment, trying to help my teammates to get better – this kind of responsibility,” says the 29-year-old “I don't forget myself though: ‘How I can play?’. It's not just making the right play for the guy around me, it's also playing my game, trying to find a solution for me.
“I don’t care about being the main guy. My duty is just to be myself. I don't have to overthink about how I can help the guy to feel better, to be better. I know that my voice has a big impact, and I'm trying to use it. I just love playing handball. I have to admit it. It's the place I feel the most comfortable in my life.
“I know that my role (with France) is completely different than what I’m used to in Veszprem, my club, and I'm pretty, pretty happy about that. I love to be the playmaker of the team, but that's the most difficult task I had over the last few years: changing between right back and playmaker, because as a right back, you're more used to shooting and when you're in the middle, you're more involved with the ball, with the all-round game. I kind of like it.”
And, for Mem, he is relishing the calm, controlled guiding influence he can use on and off court for his team.
“It just something natural, I enjoy it. I just want to make them confident when they're playing,” said Mem about his leadership role.
“If I have to say something to them, I will speak, but I don't need to be the guy who’s going to speak every time with them, because they are good players and know what they're doing. If they want my help, I'm here. They know that they can call me, reach me and I will speak with them.
“I tell them that don't need to be thinking all the time about handball. It’s really important because we are training and then playing two or three games in a week. Sometimes I see them on their phone, looking at every game, (I just say to them) ‘man, take it easy, just feel free to do something else’, but then, when we have training or games, it’s 100%.”