“I'm pleasantly surprised that things are going so well, so quickly,” says Valentin Porte, describing the Blues' “performance.”

Nedim Remili is one of the key players in the French team that Valentin Porte is delighted with. FFHB/Icon Sport

A former player of the French team with 198 caps, Montpellier Handball captain Valentin Porte is the key witness for Midi Libre for this Handball World Cup. Like everyone else, he liked the way the Blues got off to a good start in the main round against Hungary (37-30).

Les Bleus started the main round perfectly by dominating Hungary (37-30) largely, especially in defense. Your opinion ?

This is perhaps the most accomplished match of the French team since the beginning of this World Cup. Honestly, it was very good. Particularly at the start of the match. I think that the group had perfectly anticipated the Hungarians' rapid transition to 7 (players) against 6. France had worked on the issue well. I think Hungary made a mistake by switching very quickly to this tactic while the Blues' defense was still very fresh. Offensively, it was also very good with a lot of alternation in the shots.

Read also:“Thibaud Briet propels the French team to another level”: Valentin Porte's eye on the Blues at the Handball World Cup before the main round

Despite a slight dip in the second half, the rotations do not seem to impact the team's efficiency…

When you lead by ten goals, the dip in performance is a bit logical. You tend to relax, to lose a bit of concentration. But as you say, the rotations have not affected the team's performance. It has even increased at times. It's great. Everyone is invested in their competition. I'm pleasantly surprised that it's going so well, so quickly.

“Against the Netherlands, it's going to be a bit weird”

On Thursday, the Blues meet the Netherlands again. It will be a completely different style. Nothing to do with Hungary ?

It's going to be a bit weird indeed. It's smaller and it's short. We're going to have to organize ourselves accordingly, get our heart rate up and fall back as quickly as possible. They're going to want to score quick goals. We shouldn't be surprised. The Netherlands struggled against Qatar. I'm not too worried.

Have you watched other matches, other groups in this Main Round and which team impresses you the most at this stage? ?

The Danes are really impressive. But it's not necessarily a surprise. They're the team in great form at the moment. But France is not far behind. I am also pleasantly surprised by Sweden even if I still haven't understood how they didn't win against Spain (29-29 in the preliminary round). Germany and Spain are a little less good. But you always have to be wary of these teams that sometimes flounder at the beginning of the competition.

I subscribe to read the rest