This will be a sad first. Never Nikola Karabatic has not missed an international competition with the Blue. But following an operation on the foot, the star of the handball French will not be at the rendez-vous of the World 2019. France will have to defend his title without him.
” The pain had become too strong. It was impossible for me to play or train me, ” assured Karabatic, 34-year-old, on the website of his club PSG. His unavailability should be four to six months. The half-center was suffering from December 2016 to hallux valgus, that is to say, a deviation of the base of the big toe towards the outside.
” I had to tighten the teeth. Last season went quite well until the Final Four [of the champions League in Cologne]. At this time, the pain reappeared. I had to play the last matches of the season with a strong discomfort. It was said that with the holidays, and rest, the symptoms decline, but the recovery, they were always there “, continues the champion known for his hardness at the evil and the generosity of his playing style.
The operation, performed in Boulogne-Billancourt, is ” well spent “. “But we can really say that everything went well on the day where I will resume my running and handball with a lot less, or even no more pain,” he said.
Nine titles with the Blues
Nikola Karabatic has been for the last fifteen years is the great artisan of the success of the team of France, with which he built a fabulous track record (2 olympic titles, 4 world titles, 3 european titles). “It’s going to be the first international competition that I’m going to miss with the Blue. Difficult to have to forgo all of that. At the same time, I knew that by continuing to I had no chance to compete in this competition. Worse, if I had continued to play, I’d be very well able to aggravate my injury and may be forced to put an end to my career. The surgeon warned us that it was not necessary to delay, ” he said.
It is also a hard blow for PSG, champion de France, which is seeking to win for the first time in the champions League after failing three consecutive times to the Final Four. The team of France, crowned in Paris two years ago, will defend his title in Germany and Denmark, from the 10th of January.
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coach Didier Dinart has players like Nicolas Claire (Nantes), Dika Mem (Barcelona) and Melvyn Richardson (Montpellier) to hold the position of a half-center. No, of course, does not possess the aura and the experience of Nikola Karabatic, who is considered one of the best handballeurs of history, all countries combined. For the next deadline, the two qualification matches for the Euro 2024, compared with Lithuania and Romania, the program of the next week, the Montpellier Mathieu Grébille, who plays back or winger, has been called in reinforcement.
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