Mission accomplished, and this is all we will remember. Well almost, because if in this whole third match of the Azzurri World Cup not everything was perfect, in the end Jean-Aimé Toupane’s girls will have been able to put on the necessary collar to get out of the Malian trap. Next step? Japan tomorrow morning at 8, and it will be another story.
The French were told that Mali had taken 60 against Australia, who were themselves defeated by the Bleues at the opening, but the French were not told that Sika Koné would apparently decide to release the match of her life this morning. The girl (20 years old) from Gran Canaria thus cold-selected the interiors of the EDF and brought with her all her pineco, the first quarter suddenly became a Malian party. On the rebound in particular, with seven offensive rebounds recovered from the truffles of our big names, which then resulted in the scoring of a dangerous gap in favor of the outsiders in this match considered, we remember, very unbalanced. 21-17 Mali, Alexia Chartereau team Blue Girls destroys rope and that’s fine, while Ana Tadic takes advantage this Sunday to scrape a few minutes and turn them into a footwork mixtape. Fortunately, the second quarter is that of the awakening of the French, the fourth that will be won 25-11 thanks to a tight defense and a surgical attack that makes everyone bite.
Then we tell ourselves that our Bleues are about to spread it with a smile, Lisa Berkani thinks she is Damian Lillard and Gaby Williams activates the machine, but in front of the voice of the Mali coach makes us think of Juan Joya Borja alias El Risitas, but in front, above all, does not let go of the steak and in particular this famous Koné that we now have Koné, Koné who will finish his game with a record of 18 points and 18 rebounds, as well as Dwight Howard plays with Mali. A close or two around ten points but the JAT girls will not tremble right in the second half, and even the staff will take the opportunity to strum a little more than usual on the rotations. Ana Tadic then (8 points to 4/6 in 14 minutes), Migna Touré and her 10 pawns in 14 minutes including an incredible PLANCHA in the third quarter, and also some balls offered to Marie-Eve Paget at the Fauthoux and Berkani relay ahead.
In the end the victory is there, without really shaking despite a somewhat sleepy start, and the ground is therefore preparing for the double shocks of tomorrow (against Japan) and Tuesday (against Serbia). Yes our girls will play three games in three days, they are not the only ones, and the calculations are quite simple in view of qualifying for the quarter-finals: two defeats and you will have to pull out the calculator, one win and you are out of the cutters. So see you tomorrow for Act IV of this group stage, for a Franco-Japanese rematch of the last Olympic Games.
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