Handball World Cup: France goalkeeper Samir Bellahcene forced to leave squad before Austria match

Bellahcene formait la paire avec Desbonnet pour l'instant. FFHB – ICON SPORT

Samir Bellahcene, one of the two goalkeepers of the French team to have played the first two matches of the World Cup, has withdrawn from the rest of the competition due to injury and has been replaced by Valentin Kieffer, the French Federation announced on Saturday 18 January.

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Montpellier's Bellahcene injured his right thigh on Friday during training, on the eve of the last match of the preliminary round of the Blues, against Austria (victory of the Blues 35-27) in Porec (Croatia), specified the FFHandball.

“It's difficult for Sam, because he finds himself having to abandon the blue boat, while we have only just started the competition. We are very sad, very disappointed for him”, declared coach Guillaume Gille after the victory against the Austrians.

“We are also looking at everything he has done this season to get playing time back (departure from Kiel to Stuttgart in November, Editor's note), to put himself back in a position to be selected. It is very frustrating for him, we support his sadness”, he added.

Read also: Charles Bolzinger: “All my thoughts are with Samir Bellahcene, he has become a friend, so it breaks my heart to see a teammate “injure”

Five possible changes in total

Bellahcene's withdrawal benefited Charles Bolzinger, who played and was rather convincing against the Austrians after being in the stands during the first two matches (37-19 against Qatar and 43-19 against Kuwait).

Kieffer (25 years old, 0 caps), called up for the first time to the French team in November, will join the group on Sunday in Varazdin (Croatia), where the Blues will start the main round on Tuesday. Joining his father, Jean-Luc, the French goalkeeping coach.

The coach Guillaume Gille can make five changes to his group of 18 players during the World Cup.