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Netherlands know how to deal with France

The Dutch faced the French twice - last December in the WC quarterfinal and this year in the Olympic qualifiers in March

The Dutch women's handball team got qualified to the summer OG for the first time ever, and they're feeling ambitious in Rio. After getting ready for 11 months in Netherlands, Henk Groener's team continued in Brazil. They've been here for almost two weeks now. Before going to Rio, they played three games against top teams in Eindhoven. They lost to Sweden 25-26, and then beat Russia 25-23 and Montenegro 23-13.

The current vice champions played two practice games against Brazil. They lost the first 27-29, and the second one was evened out, 23-23. The middle back Nycke Grot was the best Dutch scorer in the first, and the left back Lois Abbingh in the second.

To save energy for France, the Dutch didn't participate in the OG opening ceremony. This will be their third duel against France since December 2015. The Dutch were more successful both times - first they won the WC quarterfinal 28-25, and were later the champions. The second duel was the OG qualifiers in Metz, France in March this year. This time, they've won 24-17.

France didn't manage to get a medal in their last four OG, with one semifinal from the OG in 2004 in Athens, and the fifth place from the last OG in London. Olivier Krumbholz lead the team in the last four Olympics, and he says his team are the outsiders, but that is an advantage.

- According to the handball experts, nobody sees France as one of the teams to win a medal. That's great because it relieves us from pressure, but we don't even pay much attention to that, we're just focused on the goal we've set, to win a medal - Krumbholz explained.

Even though they lost their last two duels to the Dutch, one of the advantages of his team is that they've got individuals with lots of experience, and that is one of the main flaws in the French team. This will be the third OG for three French players (Ayglon, Lacrabere and Leynaud), the second for Dancette and Dembele.

Let's also mention that France played three games against three teams who are playing the Olympics now in the last qualifying tournament in Norway. They've lost to Spain and Norway and have beaten Romania. Upon arriving to Rio, France played another practice game against Norway, and that one was evened out, 25-25.

The Netherlands know how to play against France, two wins in three months on two significant tournaments (WC 2015 quarter-finals and OG 2016 Qualification Tournament , 24-17) in which the Dutch demonstrated higher speed, bigger physical and mental strength. What's specific from those two matches against France is the impressive saves by goalkeeper Tess Wester (34 saves in two matches) and the flexible and very aggressive wall in front of her goal who allowed the French to record only 12 in the first and nine in the second match and after the first 30 minutes they solve the bigger part of the job. The Dutch are known by a lot of creativeness in the offense, but in the last year Groener has worked a lot of defense efficiency. In the eve of the OG in Rio, the Netherlands played three matches on a strong control tournament in the Netherlands, and the defense efficiency was as follows: nine allowed to Sweden, 11 to Russia and only eight to Montenegro. After arriving to Brazil, they played two matches against the home team, in the first match in which there was a maximum number of rotations on both sides they allowed 17, in the other in which both teams were serious - 11. France are definitely a team whose defense and goalkeepers are their best weapons, while their problems lie in the offense, so in total the winner today will be decided by the better defense. The Netherlands are the favorites for winning and that's one of the options for this match, and the best one is the limiting the French offense in the first half.