))
FRANCE IS PREPARED FOR THE CHALLENGE
Final Olympic Qualification Tournament
Luxembourg, May 20, 2004. In their final chance to appear in the Olympic arena of Athens this summer, the national men’s team of France has prepared well in advance in order to be at their best during the Olympic Qualification tournament taking place in Tokyo, Japan, from May 22-30, 2004.
An extremely difficult task is awaiting the French men’s national team
given the list of their opponents (Algeria, Australia, Canada, China,
Iran, Japan and Korea) as well as the need to end up in first place in
order to qualify. From the total 28 matches played during the nine days
of competition with seven matches per team, only the best Asian and the
winning team will qualify.
Considering past results Canada and
the 2003 Asian Champion Korea seem to be the most difficult opponents to
overcome. However, Japan as the hosting team and the national team of
China are not to be underestimated. Facing these strong opponents,
France had to prepare well in advance in order to stand a chance in the
coming days, thus Philippe Blain, the French national team coach, has
grouped together his protégées of whom the most have been liberated from
their club obligations early on. In expectation of the remaining French
team players, “les Bleus” have set up training camp in Seoul, South
Korea, in order to recuperate from the eight-hour jet lag on time and to
practise playing against Asian teams. With the full French squad
available, the only European representative in Tokyo has a fair
opportunity to qualify if no injury setbacks from an overloaded schedule
cross their way.
Match schedule in Tokyo (local time):
|
1 |
CAN-IRI |
22-May |
11:00 |
|
15 |
ALG-KOR |
26-May |
15:00 |
|
2 |
KOR-CHN |
22-May |
13:00 |
|
16 |
JPN-IRI |
26-May |
18:00 |
|
3 |
AUS-FRA |
22-May |
15:00 |
|
17 |
KOR-AUS |
28-May |
11:00 |
|
4 |
ALG-JPN |
22-May |
18:00 |
|
18 |
IRI-FRA |
28-May |
13:00 |
|
5 |
IRI-KOR |
23-May |
11:00 |
|
19 |
CHN-ALG |
28-May |
15:00 |
|
6 |
FRA-CAN |
23-May |
13:00 |
|
20 |
CAN-JPN |
28-May |
18:00 |
|
7 |
ALG-AUS |
23-May |
15:00 |
|
21 |
ALG-IRI |
29-May |
11:00 |
|
8 |
JPN-CHN |
23-May |
18:00 |
|
22 |
CAN-KOR |
29-May |
13:00 |
|
9 |
CHN-IRI |
25-May |
11:00 |
|
23 |
AUS-CHN |
29-May |
15:00 |
|
10 |
KOR-FRA |
25-May |
13:00 |
|
24 |
JPN-FRA |
29-May |
18:00 |
|
11 |
CAN-ALG |
25-May |
15:00 |
|
25 |
IRI-AUS |
30-May |
11:00 |
|
12 |
AUS-JPN |
25-May |
18:00 |
|
26 |
CHN-CAN |
30-May |
13:00 |
|
13 |
FRA-CHN |
26-May |
11:00 |
|
27 |
FRA-ALG |
30-May |
15:00 |
|
14 |
AUS-CAN |
26-May |
13:00 |
|
28 |
KOR-JPN |
30-May |
18:00 |
 |
 |
 |