Handball World Cup: four MHB players in the list of 22 players called up for the preparation camp

Guillaume Gille et son staff ont appelé 22 joueurs pour un premier stage de préparation. FFHB – FFHB

Guillaume Gille has called up four MHB players to prepare for the Handball World Cup (January 14 – February 2), as announced by the French Federation on Monday, December 23.

The 22 players called up by the French handball team staff will meet from January 2 at the Maison du handball in Créteil to officially begin preparation, while the first training camp scheduled for December 21 to 24 was canceled in mid-December, due to the refusal of some clubs to release their players.

Guillaume Gille and his entire team still met for a few days and established a first list to prepare for the World Cup, scheduled from January 14 to February 2 between Croatia, Denmark and Norway.

Yanis Lenne uncertain

Among the players called up, there will be four MHB players during this training camp. Thus, Yanis Lenne (right winger), Charles Bolzinger (goalkeeper), Rémi Desbonnet (goalkeeper) and Karl Konan (defender), will be part of the adventure.

Uncertainty still persists around the condition of Yanis Lenne, still bothered by lower back pain. Which required the call of Chambérien Benjamin Richert, who has never been selected for the French team. On the injured side, Elohim Prandi, Dika Mem, Kentin Mahé and Hugo Descat have also been called up by the Bleus' staff to assess their fitness.

A group of 18 for the World Cup

After a first week of training together, the French team players will play two friendly matches during the Tournoi de France in Strasbourg, against the Czech Republic on January 8 (7:15 p.m.), then Portugal on January 10 (9:10 p.m.).

After this preparation tournament, Guillaume Gille and his staff will have to choose 18 players to play in the World Cup, of which only 16 will be on each match sheet. The first match of the Blues is scheduled for January 14 (6 p.m.) against Qatar, in Porec (Croatia).