France won the match, but the host Luxemburg gained more recognition. In Round 1 of the EHF EURO 2010 Qualification, the Olympic champion didn’t play well, but Thierry Omeyer & Co. celebrated a 30:21 (15:13 for France at half-time) victory at the end.

 

Eight players from the gold medal team of Beijing were playing in Luxemburg, but there was no Olympic spirit on court. It took rather hard work to come over the “Red lions from Luxemburg”.

 

4 600 spectators – the biggest crowd ever at a handball match in Luxemburg – attended the game. And in the first half-time they couldn’t believe their eyes: after a quick French 5:1, Luxemburg found their rhythm, equalised and were in lead at 8:7.

 

France couldn’t shake them off, even if it is a team without professional players. The Luxembourg squad includes students and young working people who play handball in their spare time.

 

After the counter attack goals of Luc Abalo, playing for Ciudad Real, France went into the cabin with a rather narrow 15:13. Everybody who expected a stronger French team after the break was disappointed. No matter that world class players such as Jerome Fernandez or Daniel Narcisse came on court.

 

The Olympic champions could extend the distance to 20:15 (36th minute) and 24:17 (47th min), but Luxemburg stood strong. Only in the very final stage the Luxemburg players lost their concentration and ran out of energy.

 

“For most of us this was the match of our lives,” Luxemburg goalkeeper Mike Majerus, the best player on court, said afterwards. His saves made France really nervous. Coach Adrian Stot was very happy:

 

“Nobody could expect that we lose with less than ten goals. I’m proud of my team.”

 

On the other side it was hard to explain coach Claude Onesta:

 

“It was a very problematic match between an internationally very experienced team and another that didn’t seem to have any chance. But as my players were far from their usual performance, Luxemburg gave all they had.”

 

The next EURO qualifier for Onesta’s team is the game in Brno (Czech Republic) on Sunday. Then World Player of the Year, Nikola Karabatic, will be back on court again, after watching the match in Luxemburg from the tribune.

 

Luxemburg now want to get even more from their next EURO qualifier:

 

“I hope that we will have enough confidence to beat Latvia on Sunday,” goalkeeper Majerus said.