How our internationals fared at the weekend

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This weekend, seven Paris Saint-Germain Handball internationals were with their respective national teams for the final international break before EHF Euro 2024 next January.

LES BLEUS SHINE AGAINST ROMANIA

Back in action for the first time since April, Les Bleus did not pull any punches in Toulouse. Guillaume Gille's men quickly took the lead against Romania and went into the break with a sizeable advantage (30': 20-9). Continuing his excellent start to the season, Elohim Prandi delighted the capacity crowd by converting all three of his attempts on goal. Nikola and Luka Karabatic also added their names to the scoreboard with a goal apiece. The French team won without a moment's hesitation (60': 40-21). Les Bleus are now full of confidence ahead of EHF Euro 2024. Next up, in early January, is the French edition of the Golden League, which will see France take on Tunisia and Brazil in Nantes on 4 and 6 January respectively.

PRESTIGIOUS VICTORY FOR THE NETHERLANDS

Some of our Parisians were playing in the Golden League this weekend. The Norwegian edition of the competition featured three Rouge et Bleu: in addition to Kent Robin Tonnesen for the host nation, Ferran Solé with Spain and Luc Steins with the Netherlands were also in the running, while Denmark rounded off the list of competitors for the 2023 edition.

Beaten by Spain in their opening match, the Netherlands sprang a surprise by beating Tonnesen's side in spite the Norwegians' having the home-ground advantage. Our two Parisians were in particularly good form, with four goals apiece. Trailing at the break (30': 23-19), the Dutch turned in a classy second-half performance to claim a well-deserved victory (60': 32-37) - a perfect reward for the progress made by the Dutch team in recent years. However, the Netherlands could do nothing against reigning world champions and Golden League 2023 winners Denmark (23-40). Luc Steins will meet up with Denmark and Norway again in January for the Danish edition of the Golden League 2024.

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SPAIN IN TROUBLE

On their way to victory, the Danes beat the Spain of Ferran Solé, who scored a goal. Largely dominated in the first half (30': 19-12), the Spanish showed more resistance in the second act, but were unable to close the gap (60': 34-29).

Jordi Ribera's men were therefore keen to make up for lost time in the closing match by getting the better of Norway. The match came down to the last detail, with the two teams back to back at the break (30'h: 13-13). The Spaniards were in front for most of the second half, thanks in particular to the efficiency of Ferran Solé (2 from 2), but broke down in the dying moments of the match, conceding their second defeat in three games (60': 31-29). The win means that the Norway of Tonnesen, who scored a goal against Spain, finish runners-up in their edition of the Golden League 2023.

HUNGARY CONFIDENT AGAINST POLAND

In preparation for the European Championship, Dominik Mathé's Hungary took on Poland twice, on Saturday and Sunday. The Hungarians built up their confidence with two wins (31-27 / 36-26), Mathé scoring three goals in each of the games to continue his good start to the season. Next up for the Hungarians is a final test, against the Czech Repbulic on 5 January, before their Euro opener a week later.

(Credits: J. Azouze/PSG)