French handball briefing

Chambery: team of October in France

The beginning of the season was fabulous for the French Chambery Savoie. They clinched six victories from six games in two competitions, the French League and the Champions League. Not many clubs can boast with such an achievement.

The team of coach Gardent is leading the table in France and they have good chances to qualify for the Main Round. As a consequence, the French coaches chose Chambery the best team of the month October.

Chambery president, Alain Poncet, was really satisfied with this prize:

“It is very nice for our players. It means that we are on the right track and we are working properly. But the season is very long and we must keep playing with the same motivation that we had last games. We cannot think that everything is done. We have to work to continue in the same way”.

It is increasingly difficult for the team in France. From now on all clubs are putting in double effort to become the first team to beat Chambery.

Metz: disappointment after Viborg

Viborg are among the greatest European clubs and also favourites for the CL title. It doesn’t change the situation: Metz are disappointed to lose against the team of coach Vestergaard.

Metz top scorer, Svetlana Ognjenovic, commented:

“We played badly, but the 13-goal difference does not reflect the real strength of the two teams. It will be difficult to play worse than we did that day”.

Metz president Thierry Weizman was not so negative:

“We lost against a great club, the best in the world for me. This defeat shows everybody where we stand in reality. However, we are hopeful to qualify”.

Two players, Helene Francois and Vesna Horacek, agreed in some critical points:

“We lost balls and we were not able to impose our style. It is a pity because we fought well in the first half,” Francois said.

Horacek added: “We worked hard in the first half and we gave up in the second. Their goalkeeper Haraldsen showed why she is one of the best in her position. I hope that we can learn from the defeat”.