France is ready for the EHF EURO 2012

Four days before their highly decisive opening match at the EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia against Spain, France showed again that they are well prepared for the tournament. After beating Norway 35:29 on Tuesday, the defending champions defeated the same opponent on Thursday 28:24 (13:13).

Nevertheless the host had some problems in the opening period: scoring no goal for nearly ten minutes, and allowing their opponent to lead 9:5. By the break, however, the defending champions had equalized to 13:13 – though Norway played much better than two days before, thanks to Erlend Mamelund and Havard Tvedten, who led their team.

After the break Norway remained strong, even when France went away with a four-goal margin to 17:13. The Northern Europeans, who will fight for a ticket for the Olympic Qualification tournaments in Serbia, could count on a strong defence and the duo Mamelund/Tvedten, who scored 13 goals in total.

When the intermediate result was 23:21 the guests hoped to be the first team since 2000 to take the points from the Arena Paris-Bercy, but then France accelerated and to take a well-deserved victory. As in the first encounter, Nikola Karabatic was the French top scorer with five goals.

The defending champion now travels to Serbia with a high degree of confidence. "It was a nice game," Karabatic said, and added: "We didn’t have too much time to prepare and we had to use different players at different positions due to injuries. But now I think we are used to playing together."

For coach Claude Onesta, the encounter against Norway was "the game we needed. Despite the difficult circumstances – travel, injuries, short preparation time – we have a highly effective team."

Team captain Jerome Fernandez added: "It was quite positive, but we still have to work hard, as Spain, our first opponent at the EHF EURO in Serbia, will be something more than Norway."

For goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer, the most important thing was "to finish the preparations with a victory".

Further information

Download the Official EHF EURO 2012 Playing Schedule (pdf)

Buy your EHF EURO 2012 tickets HERE.

Ticketing is managed by the Serbian Organising Committees. Should you need further assistance for buying your tickets, please contact via email: tickets@rss.org.rs

Find more information on the tournament on the official website www.ehf-euro.com/SRB2012/

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