Championnat du monde

On Wednesday, the world championships in handball started, and I love how the city and the country has embraced the French national team. There are posters everywhere, not just from the TV channel that show the games, but the team is on all kind of posters, in stores and on TV. Everyone is talking about the championship. When you sit in the cafés you here people mentioning names like: Karabatić, Narcisse, Gensheimer and Entrerrios Simay even told me that one of her professors started the class with:

“So, who´s Brazilian here?”

After two girls raised their hands he continued with:

“Oh, I am so sorry. I am sorry about the game”

This was the day after France beat Brazil in the opening game of the championship.


Handball, and especially the French team, is always in the news. There are interviews with the players, reruns of previous games, and specials with behind-the-scenes looks at the team. This is all so different from back home. Now that the Norwegian men’s national team has started to do well, they are finally getting more exposure, but nothing close to what it is here. Growing up it was almost only people within the handball community that followed the men’s tournaments. Of course, it helps that the French team has won everything there is to win over a long period, and have the best players in the world. What surprises me is that a country and a city this big is this interested in the sport. I thought that in a country that has so much to offer, people would only be interested in the things they really love. In reality they seem to like everything connected to greatness, and as long as it is about France. It makes it more fun to follow the tournament as everyone are interested in it.
After all, it is a great conversation starter these days.

Source: http://www.sportsmarketing.fr/adidas-maillot-equipe-de-france-mondial-handball/


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