They were shaken in the final stage of the game, but in the end France stood tall and took a deserved 29:26 victory against host Sweden in the first semi-final. For France it is the fourth straight final in a major tournament since 2008 – Olympics 2008, WCh 2009, EURO 2010 – and they won all those three finals before. If they take the trophy on Sunday they are the first team to defend a WCh title since 1974, when Romania took the trophy like in 1970. Sweden was a strong opponent in the semi of Malmö, but they lacked individual class against the experienced French team and will play for the Bronze medal on Sunday. The Swedish and French opponent will be decided in the second semi in Kristianstad.

 Semi-final 1: France – Sweden 29:26 (15:12)

 Sweden could count on Oscar Carlen again, who had to be replaced in the last Main Round match against Denmark – and the right back started well with two early goals. Both sides had real concrete in their defense in the starting period, as the attackers nearly couldn’t make their way through those walls. France counted on fast break goals, as they had initial problems in position attack – and aside both goalkeepers saved brilliant, with little advantages for French Thierry Omeyer compared with the Swedish Johan Sjöstrand. Thanks to Omeyer and the intermediate weak Swedish shot efficiency with too hectic shots the reigning champion increased the lead to three goals (8:5), despite a Swedish time-out in minute 14. Especially Michael Guigou scored well from the penalty line and the wing position (in total five times before the break). On the other hand the new Swedish handball hero Kim Ekdahl du Rietz (four goals in twelve minutes) brought life back to his team and reduced the gap again to only one goals (10:11 in minute 25). Cheered by their spectators Sweden tried hard to turn the match, but the individual class and experience from winning so many trophies and medals was the decisive factor in the end of the first half, when the result was 15:12.

And then the French defense including Omeyer closed the gate completely. Even when Guigou missed a penalty shot against Sjöstrand in minute 35, France was unstoppable. It took them only 13 minutes to distance their opponent with a six goals difference (23:17), before Sweden took their time-out. Aside the performance of Omeyer Betrand Gille (man of the Match) scored brilliant in this stage, as Sweden was not patient enough and shot too fast – mostly saved by Omeyer. The highly concentrated French team did not only stop their opponent, but calmed down the Malmö Arena, too, in the middle of the second half. But the situation changed quickly after three straight Swedish goals of Källman (2) and Carlen – the spectators and the team were back at the score of 24:20. Surprisingly France lost their pace for minutes, missed some shots and their defense wasn’t as strong as before. Sweden took the profit from this weak French period and the great support from the stands and reduced to 23:25 with one player more on the field four minutes before the end. The tension rose, as the game was close to turn.  But when Carlen received a two minutes suspension at the score of 26:24 in minute 58, France was cold as ice. Guigou scored twice within 20 seconds and extended the lead to 28:24 and decided the game. The final score was 29:26, top scorers were Guigou with nine goals for France and Källman with six for Sweden.

Photo by Axel Heimken