They have shared the same room since 2008 and have never separated again. We sometimes wonder what can bind Luc Abalo, a suburban man from Ivry, and Michaël Guigou, a discreet southerner from Apt (Vaucluse). At their advanced age, certainly above all the pleasure of accompanying a golden youth towards podiums that Michaël Guigou has long trusted. Two gold medals and one Olympic silver, four titles of world champion, three coronations, European, two Champions Leagues and if that is not enough, ten titles of champion of France with Montpellier which indicated to him the summer last the way out and forced to migrate to the neighbor of Nîmes.
His talent is inversely proportional to his height (1.79 m). The elf is heading straight for his thousandth goal in the jersey of the France team (989) without frowning too much from this symbolic bar. He prefers to speak in the plural, even more today with his responsibility as captain, since Cédric Soraindho gave him the rag. He is a benevolent captain, neither cheeky nor barker, rather confidant and protective. I am very proud of the past, of what I have done. To still live a world at 39, is an exceptional gift. Today, I am still able to bring to the field and live things with passion.
Except last year when the France team was stuck in the competition without really having played, Mickaël Guigou got into the habit of celebrating his birthday away from home as was the case on Thursday. I know the end is near, recognizes the one who dreams of a last Olympiad next summer. I do it all without stress but with a lot of motivation. I try to convey my passion, my way of seeing things, to support this young team, these young players. We ask ourselves a lot of questions, it is not easy to have this responsibility. It is the present that appeals to me and already the desire not to leave far from home for nothing, to leave the family and come back with a medal, at least the pride of having done everything possible.
Captain by example
Against Portugal, in the quarterfinals, it was he who sounded the revolt as the boat sank slowly (2-7). Four goals in a row that put the head straight to the Blues. I was very disappointed with our start to the match. Afterwards, sometimes, on the wing, you have balls, sometimes you don’t. So I tried to get a little more out of my box to help the team and it smiled on us. To see the France team dominated in this way, we didn’t like it. We had to have this revolt. She came from me but she is able to come from anyone. We have a lot of talent in this team, a lot of players capable of making a difference, a lot of possibilities to react in one way or another.
The rest is this Friday, a semi-final against a rejuvenated Sweden for its 284th game in Blue. These Nordics who had given him a lot of problems in the quarter-finals at the World Cup 2,017 in the Lille stadium (33-30). When you see their results so far, they were the only ones to beat Egypt at home on a regular basis. To win against Qatar by twelve goals is no small feat! After that, we have a certain collective and individual experience, guys who have experienced a lot in the France team, a lot of the Champions League Final Four for some. We have a little more experience. I think we have the handballistic and mental weapons to go and find something.
Michaël Guigou rarely speaks for nothing. Even without Luka Karabatic and Timothey N’Guessan, Apt’s leprechaun must be persuaded deep down to have another trick up his sleeve.
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