European Championship: America vs. France 24:23 🔥🔥

🙂

So, the Frenchmen.

The absolute biggest thing about them is how they stick to that standard lineup. Those six guys in the attack basically play the full 60 minutes without breaking a sweat. You could see exactly what I mean during those second-round games against Spain and Germany. It was wild—Omeyer clocked in at 59 plus 60 minutes, Gille B pulled 55 and 53, Girault did 60 plus 60, Narcisse hit 45 and 57, Karabatic put up 54 and 58, Fernandez had 40 and 36, and Abalo ran 59 and 52. Just relentless.

So, looking at the offense, we're basically just running with one Gille out there right now, and honestly? He’s barely even putting points on the board. It’s rough. We've got Dinart helping out on the pivot, but let's be real—he's a defensive specialist through and through, so don't expect much from him when we're on the attack. And man, the roster feels empty. For a bunch of different reasons, we're missing heavy hitters like Guigou, Abalo, and Burdet. It's a different game without them.

Man, they really struggled through that first phase. They barely scraped past the Slovaks by just one goal—it was a total nail-biter. It was sitting at 31-27, then went to 31-31, before Fernandez finally stepped up and buried the winner. Honestly, everyone on the starting lineup was basically just trading 4 or 6 goals back and forth. Then they faced the Swedes and managed to pull away for a four-goal win. They actually led pretty comfortably for most of it, staying about 4 to 8 goals ahead. After that, they had a walk in the park against Iceland, winning by 9. The second round was a different story. Against the Spaniards, things were dead even until the 35th minute. Then they flipped a switch, went on a 6:1 run, and just took control. The Spaniards didn't even look like a threat; they only managed to close the gap to one goal right at the end. When they played Germany, their backcourt line was absolutely lethal—they scored 20 out of the team's 26 goals. It was neck and neck until the 50th minute, but then they went on a 4:1 tear to seal it. That last game against the Canadians? Total bust. But hey, they were resting all their starters, so I guess it makes sense.

Goalkeeper. I can't even begin to process that. Just... yeah. Omeyer The guy doesn't exactly have flashy stats, but he’s solid. He’s pulled off 35 saves on option shots, which puts him right at 10th on the scoring list. Plus, he’s actually logging a full 60 minutes out there.

Pivot. I can't even begin to process this. What are we even doing here? Bertrand Gille Who actually got heavy minutes during those big games in the second round? His scoring is all over the place—one minute he’s going 1 for 2, the next he’s hitting 4 out of 5. He's playing alongside... Dinart I mean, the guy's basically scoring every other game at this point. And he's only pulling 25 minutes on the defensive end? That's wild.

Left wing. I can't even deal with this right now. Just... yeah. Girault He also logged a full 60 minutes in the last two big games. He wasn't exactly lighting it up against the Germans, but before that, he was on fire, dropping five goals a game.

Left wingers. je Narcisse Who on earth is this guy coming in around the 45th minute and dropping 5 to 7 goals a game? Guillaume Gille swaps him in, and suddenly he can barely scrape one goal together. Honestly, I’ve never been much of a fan of Narcisse, but man, you can't deny the guy is absolutely tearing it up right now.

Middle wing. I can't even begin to deal with this right now. Seriously. Just... yeah. Karabatic And he’s playing heavy minutes, too. Top scorer for the squad. Honestly, there isn't even much to say about him—he's just doing his thing.

Right wing. The position of the towel. Fernandez Who plays 40 minutes and still manages to drop 4 or 5 goals a game?

Right wing. I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. You only typed "je". What's on your mind? Abalo Who else is playing basically every single minute and still dropping 3 or 4 goals per game?

The rest of the guys? Honestly, they barely mattered. Paty, Guilbert, and Kempe were lucky if they even saw seven or eight minutes of action per game. And even when they were out there, they didn't really do much of anything.

Omeyer in goal? Man, what a beast. Thierry, standing 6'3" and weighing about 205 lbs, born November 2, 1976. Currently holding down the net for THW Kiel.
Halfway through the first half, score is 22 to 30. Tough start.
Swedes - 60 min 14 saves.
Iceland is sitting at 51 minutes with 15 out of 30 shots taken.
Spaniard - 59 min 10/36 shots.
Germany - 60 mins, shot 14/37. Rough night.
Canadian - 0 min

pivot - Gille Bertrand. 6'2". 216 lbs. Born March 24, 1978. He’s 29 now, playing for HSV in Hamburg. 192 career goals, 595 appearances.
Kiel - 36 mins in, shooting 5/6. Pretty efficient.
Swedes at the 43-minute mark—shooting 4/4. Not bad.
Iceland – 41 minutes in, shooting 2 for 2. Pure clinical stuff.
Spaniard's sitting at 5/7 shooting with 55 minutes on the clock.
Germany - 53 min, 1/1 shooting.
Canadian - 0 min

Left wing - Girault. Olivier FP, 1.83m, 86kg, Feb 22, 1973, 34 years old, Paris HB, 214 goals, 472 matches.
Kiel went 6 for 9 from the field over 60 minutes. Not bad.
The Swedes are absolutely killing it—45 minutes in and they're shooting 5 out of 5. Unbelievable.
Iceland's sitting at 4/6 from the field after the first half. Not bad.
Spaniard—60 minutes on the floor and still hitting 4 out of 5. Absolute machine.
Germany—man, they were absolutely clinical. 60 minutes on the clock and they didn't miss a single shot. Just pure perfection.
Canadian - 12 mins in and they're sitting at 1/3 shooting. Tough start.

Left wing - Narcisse Daniel FP | 6'2" | 198 lbs | Dec 16, 1979 | 28 years old | Chambéry Savoie HB | 148 | 423
Kiel - 52 mins in, shooting 5/10.
Swedes - 34 min, 4/6 shooting.
Iceland - 46 min, shooting 4/8.
Spaniard's sitting at 7 for 13 from the field after 45 minutes. Tough shooting.
Germany - 57 mins in, shooting 60%. Tough.
Canadian - 29 min 3/7 shooting

Left back — Karabatic. Nikola FP 1.95 102 11 APR 1984 23 THW Kiel 97 406
Kiel - 52 mins in, shooting 4 out of 12. Rough stuff.
The Swedes—56 minutes in and they’re sitting at 5/10 from the field. Rough.
Iceland is sitting at 39 minutes with a 10 for 14 from the field. Not bad, actually.
Spaniard—54 mins in, sitting at 4 for 12 from the field. Tough luck.
Germany - 58 min, shooting 8/15.
Canadian guy—20 minutes in, sitting at 2 for 7 from the field. Rough start.

Right wing - Fernandez Jerome FP 1.99 106 7 MAR 1977 30 FC Barcelona 236 936
Kiel's sitting at 5/7 shooting after 48 minutes. Pretty solid.
Swedes - 36 mins in, sitting at 4/7 shooting.
Iceland - 37 mins in, sitting at 3/6 shooting.
Spaniard—40 minutes in and he’s already sitting at 4/4 shooting. Absolutely clinical.
Germany - 36 min 7/11 shooting
Canada - 21 min 1/4 shooting

right wing - ABALO Luc FP 1.82 80 6 SEP 1984 23 US IVRY HB 48 155
Slovakia - 42 min 3/6 shooting
Sweden - 53 min 5/8 shooting
Iceland - 43 min 2/4 shooting
Spain - 59 min 3/5 shooting
Germany - 52 min 2/6 shooting
Canada - 24 min 3/4 shooting

others:

pivot - DINART Didier FP 1.97 104 18 JAN 1977 31 CIUDAD REAL 263 124
Slovakia - 27 min 2/3 shooting
Sweden - 26 min 0/1 shooting
Iceland - 35 min 1/1 shooting
Spain - 23 min 0/0 shooting
Germany - 26 min 1/1 shooting
Canada - 33 min 0/0 shooting

left outer - GILLE Guillaume FP 1.92 97 12 JUL 1976 31 HSV HAMBOURG 222 589
Slovakia - 0 min
Sweden - 27 min 0/1 shooting
Iceland - 23 min 1/2 shooting
Spain - 14 min 1/2 shooting
Germany - 4 min 0/0 shooting
Canada - 47 min 0/4 shooting

the heavy hitters:

goalkeeper - KARABOUE Daouda GK 1.98 92 11 DEC 1975 32 MONTPELLIER HB 46 0
30 min 9/22 saves - 0 min - 9 min 0 saves - 1 min - 0 min - 30 min 8 saves

BUSSELIER Laurent FP 1.83 82 27 NOV 1976 31 CHAMBERY SAVOIE HB 10 23
1 min 0/1 shooting - 14 min 1/2 shooting - 14 min 0/1 shooting - 0 min - 0 min - 0 min

PATY Cedric FP 1.94 93 25 JUL 1981 26 CHAMBERY SAVOIE HB
16 min 2/3 shooting - 5 min 0/1 shooting - 16 min 1/1 shooting - 1 min 0/1 shooting - 9 min 0/1 shooting - 37 min 5/6 shooting

GUILBERT Fabrice FP 1.90 92 8 OCT 1976 31 US IVRY HB 15 32
11 min 0/2 shooting - 9 min 0/2 shooting - 17 min 1/2 shooting - 0 min - 0 min - 59 min 6/12 shooting

KEMPE Christophe FP 1.93 105 2 MAY 1975 32 TOULOUSE UNION HB 139 224
10 min 0/0 shooting - 6 min 0/1 shooting - 8 min 1/2 shooting - 0 min - 0 min - 25 min 3/4 shooting

OSTERTAG Sebastien
0-0-0-0-0-47 min 4/8 shooting

Just gotta stay gutsy...
If we play defense like we did today, tighten up the offense just a hair, and stop throwing away 15 possessions like they're nothing, we're golden.🙂

boldhound8 said:Just stay brave.
Play defense like we did today, tighten up the offense a bit, and stop throwing away 15 possessions. That’s all we need to do.🙂

You think you can tighten up the defense even more than today? Fine. But if the offense doesn't improve—and I mean significantly—we're dead. It’s all about ball movement. With this sluggish passing, we aren't just going to lose; the French will absolutely tear us apart.
As long as there’s still a chance, we hold out hope. 🙂

boldhound8 said:Just stay gutsy...
If we can just hold the line on defense, tighten up the offense a bit, and stop throwing away 15 possessions, we’ll be alright.🙂

That's an understatement. 🙂

Man, seriously, if these players have half as much confidence as you guys do, they might as well just stay in the locker room instead of stepping onto the court.😁

How old are these French guys on average? For crying out loud, they’ve basically been playing handball since the dawn of time...😲

If we can just get some decent refs on the whistle, you’ll see how many calls they actually take on the French side. They weren't even playing great a year ago when they beat us—now it’s time to really press them. I'm looking for some serious payback for that painful loss.

It doesn't matter how we've played up to this point. This is basically a whole new tournament now. We've got the mental toughness, as usual, and since we aren't the favorites this time around, we can finally settle the score (plus, we're overdue for another championship medal!!).

It’s only when the dust settles that you can really see who’s left standing. Making predictions isn't my strong suit, but I’ve got a good feeling about this one. Honestly, I've felt it since before the first whistle even blew. That old sense of defiance has kicked in, the motivation is there, and seeing the injury list finally shrink gives me some real hope.

granitefox16 I can't even begin to tell you how much this drives me crazy! It’s absolutely ridiculous. Seriously, what are we even doing here? I am beyond fed up with this nonsense. It’s just one thing after another, and frankly, it’s getting old fast. You want my take? Fine. Here it is: it’s total garbage. Period. End of story. No arguments needed.
What's the average age of these Frenchmen? For crying out loud, it feels like they’ve been playing handball since the dawn of time!😲

Man, those Danish guys are twice as old!😁

I haven't really caught the French team playing in this European Championship, but man, if they show up with that same insane defense they had during the last World Championship and the refs actually let them play dirty, we are absolutely toast...
We aren't nearly as strong as we were back then, honestly, our offense looks totally lost right now, just making amateur mistakes left and right, and you have to remember how much harder it was to score back then because you could barely see Balic through all that contact from Dinart (it was basically a mix of handball defense and heavyweight boxing)... those easy strolls Balic used to take to the goal? Yeah, we can forget about those happening anytime soon. They were just forcing outside shots against that 3-2-1 defense even though it made zero sense...
So, there’s just no room for winging it or waiting on some spark of inspiration from Balic, we need pure discipline and set plays that actually work, especially for the wings, but we haven't seen any of that yet... unless, of course, the French aren't even a shadow of what the Germans were back in the day...

boldhound8 said:Man, those older Danes are twice as...😁

Are you seriously trying to make that connection😁...

Terry Fisher2 really ought to set up a public poll so all those pessimists can hide their faces after America’s absolutely massive win over the underdogs!😁

I honestly think this might be the first time since 2003 that we aren't walking onto the court with the entire weight of being the favorites on our shoulders... I mean, looking at how things have played out so far, the Frenchmen should probably win, maybe even easily, but man... I’ve just got a really good feeling about this one!

The real headache for us is going to be dealing with Gille in their defense. He's going to be tasked with shadowing Balic, and let me tell you, Balic is a tough nut to crack—he's low to the ground, has a low center of gravity, and he's incredibly quick on his feet. It's not like he's easy to break down, especially since he's so damn tough...
If we want to find a way through them, the answer has to be lightning-fast ball movement on offense, but lately, that's just not been our strong suit at all.
Sure, they might be the favorites on paper, but they actually have to go out there and prove it on the hardwood. And look, I truly believe our guys have the talent, the strength, and the absolute guts to pull off an upset and take them down

granitefox16 said:Are you seriously trying to draw a parallel there? Give me a break.😁

I honestly think we can pull this off...
When it comes to rest, honestly, the Danes got absolutely smoked compared to us. The French are gonna be way more rested and probably won't have half the injury issues we're dealing with, but even that might not make much of a difference in the end. I mean, at the end of the day, we still get a full day to recover, so let's see what happens.

Look, I truly believe we can pull this off. We just need everything to click at the right moment. We have to step up and actually play our game, you know? But honestly? We’re finally on the upswing. We're gaining momentum, and if we stay on this trajectory, we're gonna be a problem for everyone else.
So what if we lose? It’s not like the world is ending. We tip our hats to the guys, show some respect, and move the hell on. Period.🙂
Look, get this straight: we’ve never been more "beaten down" than we are right now, yet we still find ourselves in the final four. That actually means something.😉

Look, we gotta lock down that defense first... can't let Narcisse and Fernandez just run wild out there... Karabatic is gonna hit his numbers anyway... need way fewer mistakes on offense too... stop handing them easy balls and shut down those fast breaks... wouldn't want Abalo running up the score on us... honestly, it'd be killer if Dinart picked up two quick suspensions early on... Gille's just your standard pivot, nothing special, nothing crazy, just does his job... I don't even recognize this left winger😕... if Omeyer gets going, we might be looking at a nightmare situation with the goalie, kind of like what happened against the Danes... otherwise, when Bruno goes nuts, he's unstoppable... but man, when Dan isn't feeling it, everything just falls apart

Maybe player rotation is the secret sauce here. They’re cycling through 9 guys at the number 7 spot, while we’re over here juggling 14.

Terry Fisher2 said:Player rotation might be the whole game here. They’re rotating 9 guys across 7 positions, while we’re out here cycling through 14...

Honestly, I couldn't care less about any of that, but I am seriously annoyed with the coach... I mean, rotating that many players during a tournament?? Just makes no sense...🤷

He went ahead and rotated all 18 players 😁. But let’s be real, only about 14 of them are actually in the hunt for a starting spot. It’s kind of the same story with the Americans, too—they use a massive roster, but at the end of the day, you're really only looking at 9 guys who actually matter.

Our lineups have been printed, and we all know exactly what kind of chaos unfolds once they hit the table! 🙂

I’m quite pleased to be kicking off this discussion, as we all know that getting the conversation started is often half the battle won. 👍 😁