At the end of their preparation camp in Bodø, Les Bleues dominated a reorganized Norwegian team which did not have the same level of preparation (18-30).
Les Bleues did not miss the meeting. After a first training camp in Capbreton, which had seen Cléopâtre Darleux reconnect, Olivier Krumbholz’s players joined Norway to conclude the season in Bodø. A second preparatory course for the world championship scheduled for next December that the Habs completed on the Bodø Spektrum floor with a friendly match against a team from Norway with whom moments of conviviality were shared during the week.
However, on the floor, the Blues took advantage of their longer two-week preparation to win. If Kristina Novak (4 goals on 6 shots) allowed the reigning European and world champions to get off to the best start, Orlane Kanor (6 goals on 6 shots) and Pauletta Foppa (5 goals on 5 shots) quickly tightened the game in attack to revive the France team. The two teams were back to back until the last ten minutes of the first period. After the interventions of Hatadou Sako (8 stops at 44% efficiency), Lucie Granier (3 goals on 3 shots) and Coralie Lassource (1 goal on 3 shots) took a 4-0 to allow the Bleues to take the lead at the break.
Great victory for our Bleues for their last summer preparation match 🇫🇷
They won 30 to 18 against the Norwegians 🔥#BleuetProud pic.twitter.com/kpfmd1JPQV
— Teams de France de Handball (@FRAHandball) July 22, 2023
Les Bleues flew away after the break
The second period especially saw a Norwegian team largely overhauled by Thorir Hergeirsson in view of the next deadlines losing ground in front of their public against a French defense applied in front of Laura Glauser (4 stops at 33% efficiency). Indeed, in the space of 30 minutes, the Norwegians have only found the fault eight times. On the other side of the field, Chloé Valentini (5 goals on 7 shots) Laura Flippes (1 goal on 1 shot), Tamara Horacek (2 goals on 4 shots) or even Léna Grandveau (1 goal on 1 shot) gave it their all with sixteen tricolor achievements in the second period.
At the end of the match, Les Bleues dropped a little and allowed Celine Solstad (3 goals on 3 shots) to delight the Bodø Spektrum public. Les Bleues end this long one-sided meeting with a victory of twelve lengths (18-30) to conclude a long season. If it will not be possible for Olivier Krumbholz to learn too many lessons for the months to come, this meeting in the middle of summer brings some certainties for the Blue one year from defending their Olympic title.
