Handball World Cup: “I am wary of the engine of revenge”, the strong words of Philippe Bana before the start of the Blues this Tuesday against Qatar

Philippe Bana is not obsessed with a world medal this January. MAXPPP – Johan BEN AZZOUZ

For 30 years and the first World title of the French team, in 1995 in Iceland, Philippe Bana has accompanied all the adventures. DTN or president of the federation, he is a privileged witness of the Blues of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

BeIn Sports is currently retracing the six world titles of the French men's team in a documentary. You experienced all of this from the inside. What do you remember about it? ?

That there are not only the medals. It is a story, a culture, a family, something quite strong, a trace. We see a sport that is essentially human, collective. We also see the transmission.

You seem to be marked by this human aspect more than by the medals. We are wrong ?

Family more than the medal, yes. I am indeed marked by these men and women, half a century of extraordinary people, the demonstration that sport brings people together, saves… That there is a soul behind the structures, the organizations and the medals.

1995, it is the first title, the advent of the Barjots…

With Daniel (Costantini, the coach), we saw this generation arrive. It wasn't a surprise to us. We created these kids. In 1995, we thought we were vaccinated for success, but it didn't last.

What do you mean by that?

As Gregory Anquetil says in the beIn documentary, we weren't ready yet. We saw it in 1996 (the Blues finished just off the podium at the Atlanta Olympics), you can die overnight if you're not careful. We had created performance without any basis behind it (marketing, communication, economics, etc.). It will take us ten, twenty years of work behind to finally climb the mountain.

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“We come from nowhere and we don't want to go back there”

Do you still sometimes have a fear of heights ?

I'm not afraid of heights but of going back to square one. We come from nowhere and we don't want to go back there. We do everything we can to make this adventure continue, to make sure the story never ends. This anxiety keeps us moving forward. Especially people of my generation.

Does the notable drop in results among young people worry you ?

The champion factory is complex to operate. You have to know how to adjust the carburetor to the nearest millimeter… For example, we have to make sure that our young people can play at least in the Pro League (2nd division). It's like with video games, you have to start with the difficult levels.

The French men's team is setting off on a new adventure this Tuesday (see also above), a few months after the quarter-final defeat of the Olympics in France…

It's the launch of a new Olympiad. That's not nothing. There's also a form of revenge that exists in the players' minds that I can't channel. As soon as the Olympics ended, they all came to me and said: “Philippe, we'll be there (at the World Cup). We'll clear our name”. There's a kind of revenge operation that we have to regulate.

What exactly are you afraid of?

Injury. You have to be careful. I distance myself a lot from January's performance. It doesn't obsess me. On the other hand, they (the players) do. I'm wary of the engine of revenge. I'm not saying that you necessarily need a medal. In handball, we're in sustainable performance. If we don't succeed today, we'll succeed tomorrow… But I can't get these thoughts out of the players' heads.

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