France - Netherherland 25-24

Long shot secured French victory

By Peter Bang Overby

When the sixty minutes were over the French women could raise their arms in victory. But it was a close call as the Dutch were in the lead throughout most of the game and the last few minutes of the game were frighteningly exciting. The end result was 25-24 to the French team.

The exciting and entertaining last minutes were in sharp contrast to the first fifteen minutes of the match. The first goal was not scored until five minutes into the match when Olga Assink scored a penalty shot goal. But this did not mean that many goals followed. After fifteen minutes only eight goals had been scored - five by the Netherlands and three by France. But then the Netherlands created a good lead of 8-3 on a goal scored by Irina Pusic. This was the first Dutch goal scored by a player who does not play in the Danish league.

This goal made the French coach request a time-out. And as so often before, it helped. Three fast goals scored by France, the last one by Varonique Pecqueux-Rolland on a well-played fast break, brought the tension back into the game. However, the Netherlands led by one or two goals throughout the match. In the 28th minute Olga Assink scored one of her eleven goals on a fabulous flyer, making the score 11-10 in the Netherlands' favour.

Fast throw-offs

After the break the Netherlands continued to stay in the lead by a couple of goals, but every time they tried to increase their lead the French players fought their way back into the match. In the second half the two teams had great success with two very different weapons.
France with their strong 9 metre players. Especially playmaker Melinda Szabo demonstrated her skills with a line of dry hip throws at vital points in the match.
And the Netherlands with their special and surprising fast breaks. When France scored a goal the Nederlands rushed to the centre line and started their attack right away. This surprised the French players. The Netherlands were allowed to score five goals on these fast throw-offs. The two teams' efficient weapons meant that the score was 17-16 in the Netherlands' favour thirteen minutes into the second half.

With less than ten minutes left of the game, France scored an equalizing goal (19-19) on a fast pass to Isabelle Wendling. After that the spectators really started cheering for the Netherlands, and maybe that was what got the Netherlands back in the lead. After an offensive attack the ball ended with Wilhelmina Feijen on the left wing. She scored a convincing goal to 21-20.

Successful French time-out

After this goal France succeeded in interrupting the Dutch concentrating by requesting a time-out. Melinda Szabo, who played a terrific match for France, scored the equalizing goal to 22-22 on a penalty shot with only five minutes left of the match. The Dutch left wing, Feijen, who scored two important goals before the time-out missed two open shots. With two minutes left Varonique Pecqeuex-Rolland scored to 25-24 on a dry long shot and suddenly France was in the lead. The Netherlands kept fighting and the French were given a 2-minute suspension with 30 seconds left of the match. The Netherlands missed their last shot and France won the even match by 25-24.
The French coach Oliver Krumbholz showed relief at the press conference after the match. 'It was a difficult match. Olge Assink in particular caused problems for us. Today our fighting-skills were more important than our handball-skills', Oliver Krumbholz admitted.