The day after the French team’s painful victory over Poland, the other two teams in the Blues group clashed on Thursday. And Slovenia made short work of Saudi Arabia (33-19), which Guillaume Gille’s players will face on Saturday in their second outing in this World Cup.
“Saudi Arabia is a team that I know very little about. It seems weaker than the other teams, but you have to be wary of teams you don’t know. When discussing the future opponents of the France team when the draw had just revealed who the Blues would face at the 2023 World Championship, Valentin Porte did not hide that he feared these Saudis that everyone imagined already leaving the World Cup with three defeats, moreover very heavy for some. The French international from Montpellier was certainly right to fear the bronze medalist of the last Asian Championship and ex-selection coached by… Didier Dinart. This was also probably the case for Slovenia when they presented themselves against the least experienced team in Group B, this Thursday the day after the success of the Blues in pain against Poland (26-24) during of the opening match of this tournament co-organized by Poland and Sweden. This did not prevent the Slovenians from leaving the Saudis no chance (33-19) two days away for the team now coached by Jan Pytlick, double Olympic champion at the head of the Danes, to challenge the French, twenty years later. the big victory (30-23) of the Habs, during the 2003 World Cup.
That feels the two out of two…
Already well ahead at the break (16-8), the Slovenians confirmed their domination in the second half to finally win by 14 goals, thanks in particular to the efficiency of Blaz Janc (6 goals) and, to a lesser measure, by Rok Ovnicek (5 goals). The Saudis, deprived during this first meeting of Al Salem, expelled when he was one of the best scorers of his team (3 goals) before leaving the field, were able, for their part, to count on Al Muwallad (4 goals) to try at times to disrupt the beautiful mechanics of this Slovenian team which had surprised all observers by finishing on the podium of the World Championship in France, six years earlier (2017). The rest of the time, on the other hand, Saudi Arabia was a spectator of the Slovenian demonstration. Very close to the main round since their victory against the Poles on Wednesday, the Blues will officially validate their ticket if they also beat the Saudis on Saturday. And from what the former Dinart players showed against Slovenia, it would take an earthquake for that not to be the case.
