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Bertolet: We need to be serious and determined about this game

France had no problems against Serbia yesterday since their opponents managed to put up a fight for only about 5-6 minutes. Poland were also successful. They beat Switzerland to get in a great position when it comes to the race for Round 2

Poland did a massive job by beating Switzerland. That win saw their chances in the Top 8 increase. Before the start of the tournament, it was clear that France were the heavy favorites of this group while the other three teams, which are pretty-close in quality, need to fight for the runner-up spot. Poland played a great first half yesterday, especially in defense, where they conceded just 7 goals in the first 30 minutes and finished 6 goals ahead. Switzerland responded in the second half but the deficit they had could not have been undone in such an unproductive game. 

Once again, it was clear that this team was limited in offense. Poland were at the right level in defense and managed to take advantage of all the problems they opponents had to win. They stayed three goals ahead which is not irrelevant because depending on the outcome of today's game between Switzerland and Serbia, even a narrow win to Markovic's could see them get through. 

They are now to face completely different opponents, both in game style and quality. The French opened the tournament in a dominant manner, confirming why most analysts consider them to be the main contenders for the title. Their game against Serbia was close for about 5-6 minutes after which France kicked their game up a notch and settled things by half time (17-9). They even took a 32-16 lead in the second half before losing focus a bit in the end. 

- There was some nervousness at the beginning but we built the lead up after that. It was a chance to some time on the floor to almost all players. We just lacked some patience in offense in the end - assistant coach Bertolet said. 

The goal in this game is the same - to get two points by using as little energy as possible. France and Poland played at the EC in Poland two seasons ago but that game wasn't too exciting. 

- We need to be serious and determined about this game - Bertolet said. 

France won 34-18 in Poland at EC. It was 19-10 after the first half and Poland had Majdzinski. It was proven on multiple occasions that this Polish generation can deal with the best teams. At that EC in 2014, Germany had 17-11 after the first half, Hungary had 15-13 but in the end won by 7 goals. On neutral grounds a year later, Hungary had an 18-11 lead after the first half. Poland stood up to Sweden back then (13-11 lead) but Sweden don't have the kind of power to trash the opponents like France. Also, in qualifiers for this championship home, they were 5 goals down against Iceland (11-16) and 26-15 down mid-second half.
France are better than all of those teams. They had a 17-9 lead after the first half against Serbia and 32-16 mid-second half. This Polish team are no better. Hungary had an 8-goal lead and a 3-goal lead after the first half. In Denmark, they were 6 goals up and had a draw (+5 in the end). But the Danes are legitimate contenders for the medal. There is also the -1 against Holland with 19 conceded goals (+9 in the end) but the next day, when the approach was not at the right level, it was +8 after the first half. Last year at the WC, they didn't cover this only against Sweden and Slovenia and Japan, whose style is tricky and who almost stunned France at the start. In the knock-out stage they had +8 against Switzerland, +4 against Sweden, +5 against Spain and +3 against Slovenia, all of whom are much better than Poland. If they have the right approach here, everything will be settled by half time. There has been a lot of talk about that serious approach before this game and that is why there should be no problems from that aspect.