Led by their new coach Frederic B, the Blues attacked against Poland in their qualifying tournament for the 2023 World Cup to be held in India this Friday.
Here is the gravedigger who has become a breeder again. Frédéric B., who led the French field hockey team between 2011 and 2014, returned to his position early last month, after a seven-year stint at the helm of the Spanish selection that destroyed hopes of qualifying for the 2019 Tokyo Games in Valencia.
Back in business, the northerner (43 years old) is confronted this Friday with the selection of the first leg of the long road leading to the Paris 2024 Games. Automatically qualified and guaranteed ‘summer’ play in the opening match of the next Olympic Games. Stade Yves-du-Manoir in Columbus, Blues have a mission to get their ticket for the 2023 World Cup, which will take place in India in 2018 (January 13-29). It goes through a final spot. , at least, in the qualifying tournament to be played in Cardiff until Sunday.
Grouping together eight countries in a knockout table, France is ranked the n°1 seed and is therefore the favourite. She will take on Poland this Friday at 12 noon French time and in case of victory find the winner of the match between Austria and Scotland. “If we win, this semi-final will be decisive as the winner will automatically qualify, but the objective is clearly to win the tournament.”, poster b. We look forward to winning our three matches because there are 13 of usI And a final victory in the world rankings us 10 . will allow you to proceedI What will happen first? “
Since his return as chief of selection, Jeroen Delmi’s successor hasn’t had time to lift his head off the handlebars. With such a critical deadline in such a short span of time, they had to do the most urgent work before tackling the major projects that were on the way to Paris 2024.
“With so little preparation time, the priority was to focus on consistency, he said. It was simply necessary to integrate new members of staff, namely the second assistant coach and physical trainer. In terms of players, with one or two exceptions, the group is the same as the one that took part in the European Cup last June. (France was finished at 6.I place, behind … Spain last qualified for 2023 on goal difference). There is a good, solid foundation that has been built over the past three years. We made some tactical adjustments but not revolutions as we only had a fortnight of training with 5 good friends which ended in 3 wins and 2 draws, 10 especially against MalaysiaI the world at large by dominating. We just lacked efficiency. “
The word “efficiency” is over. This will be crucial for the next three years, an essential phase of play in modern hockey, especially in the smaller corners. For this, apart from a PC specialist, a goalkeeper trainer and a mental trainer will also be included in the staff. One of the major axes of Frédéric B.’s second mandate, without neglecting the structural work devoted to physical preparation.
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