IHF Egypt 21 Day VI Sad and tense encounter

 

France vs Switzerland

18 January 2021

Marseillaise started a bit late and it does not bode well.

Luka turns and scores from close range 1-0

Schmid surprises Wesley on a low shot 2-1 (4’)

Rubin vs Mahe/Richardson, nice back/forward note

Clever spin by Remili 3-2 with just over 5 mins gone

Same combination with line play by Luka 4-3 (6’30)

The Argentinian refs are giving suspensions away for no particular reason when French players at fault

Or to the wrong player !

France missed two consecutive chances

Bizarre attacking foul against Switzerland

Stupendous effort by Schmid and its now 4-5

On 10 mins on the clock Descat ensures 5-5

A lot of mistakes by France

Football is not handball – Denmark vs Switzerland

Portner saves from Descat and still 5-7 in Switzerland’s favour

Swiss KEMPE missed

Embarrassing 3-goal lead by Switzerland

Pardin is not having a good match so far because he has no defensive protection

Good Lagarde and Fabregas combination

Then Pardin saved acrobatically to our relief (15’)

Descat on the side gets the right angle 7-8 (15’45)

Schmid blitz again annoyingly 7-9 a minute later

Mahe opens into the defence gap and gets a 9-9 scoreline (18’)

Dika powerhouse brings France ahead virtually a minute later

Stats on players are in databases and research libraries!

Porte does not miss the counter-attack but a long way to go still indeed

Portner saves an easy counter-attack and on the opposite

Pardin had a great tournament and twists his knee after 20 odd mins

What a terrible belated birthday

Martinowzki [typo?] should have apologised although I am sure it did not mean to clatter Wesley. I hope so anyway. So sad for Wesley. Let's wish him well.

Milosevic buries one speedily 12 -11 (24’45)

More than sad end

Gerard missed the empty goal

Not a full flowing attack

Schmid already on seven! 14-13 with two mins left

And another Portner save frustrates France

All square again with two silly goals !

Mahe miss is costly

Half time:  14-14

 Almost 10 seconds gap because of mobile disruption!

An idea to have teammates in defence

That should be a 2-min as he intentionally clashed with Guigou. Another crazy decision. Seriously.

So poor return with one powerplay

Milosevic equalises 15-15 (32’)

Great steal by Guigou means Kentin makes it a 2-goal lead (35’)

Big miss by JJA.

Still not out of the woods.

Not enough speed and imaginative combinations.

Bizarre decision against Luka because it was not obvious

Schmid gets number 17 for his country (37’) but he looked his feet inside

Empty goal strategy with no power play should not be allowed. Second time

Not very good refereeing. Too many controversial calls.

Abalo saves the day with a gentle wrist twist 19-17 (40’45)

JJA shooting below par this time.

Another mistake by France and it’s a one goal game again 19-18 (43’)

Master knowledge by Paul Bray on study anecdote

Another bullet by Schmid. OMG 20-19 (46’)

Great old-fashioned low shot by Melvin 21-19 within seconds

RNL player Schmid again teases the French defence. It’s now 21-20

Mika misses the empty goal from long range.

Back to 21-21 with just over 11 minutes left.

Again empty goal strategy with no suspension! Nuisance!

And also the claps from Swiss subs are getting on my nerves. So tense.

Incidentally the Argentinian refs are quickly raising the passive play notice

Come on Romain. Get back in shape!

Switzerland are now leading 22-23 (52’30)

Melvin to the rescue.

Sidorowitcz lack of fair play. It should have been a penalty in my book.

And now Portner saves!!!! Annoying. And so typical.

But still no central defence for Franc nor inventive attack display.

Come on Lucho with just under five minutes left, only one-goal lead!

Poor Argentinean ref. What about passive play! Never a 2-min! And if it is then I hold my hands.

Useful Gerard save. France needs to score because it’s very tight.

Why such a swift passive play when the French attack was clearly forward and had hardly started !

What a 2-min on attacking foul. Crazy decision to favour the Swiss. Unacceptable refereeing. Rumour goes that he uttered words. But he had scored so WTF! Were it for decent, it would have been after the goal anyway?

Gerard save is a tad lucky. So grateful for it.

Abalo scores number 25 with 90 seconds left despite two players down as 25-23

It’s not finished yet.

Two consecutive RIDICULE decisions by the Argentinian refs where it should be raised as attacking fouls and then of course the French defence lets the Swiss player score. Worse than the Portuguese refs a couple of qualifiers and championships ago. Disgraceful refereeing. When a game is tight like this, refs must make the right decision. These referees are not up to the standards and this is not because I am a French supporter. I enjoy a game when decisions are fair. I do not care where the refs come from.  They just need to perform. When I see this, I want to become a referee. I am also glad that I am not in the arena ; I would have lost it.

Gerard saves at the very last second after Melvin costly miss.  It finished 25-24. Or is the Warsteiner getting to me?

How on earth, can you say poor Swiss esteemed Paul Bray!

We saw the France that played against Serbia less than a fortnight ago. Portugal beckons and it’s no longer looking a bright prospect.