“Instead of blaming them all the way, we should praise them”

Ashley Davis11/12/2025

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Article by David Istrate – Published Thursday, December 11, 2025, 10:41 / Updated Thursday, December 11, 2025 10:45

Helle Thomsen (55), the coach of Denmark, praised France after the direct duel in the quarter-finals of the World Championship, won by the defending champion with 31-26and stated that his players should not be criticized.

The quarter-finals of the Women's Handball World Championship ended with the match between Denmark and France, both medalists at the 2023 edition of this tournament. The game was dominated from start to finish by Sebastien Gardillou's team, who qualified in the “box of aces”.

Denmark coach Helle Thomsen: 'I think you should start praising these girls'

The Northern defense could not find solutions to France's varied attack and, offensively, Helle Thomsen's students made a lot of mistakes. Therefore, the national team from Hexagon prevailed 31-26 and will fight with Germany for a place in the world final.

“I think it's annoying, but France were stronger than us in every aspect. We struggled from the start. They scored 8 goals on penetrations in the first 7 minutes. We couldn't hold them and we didn't have any saves. We were under pressure from the start of the game,” said the Denmark coach, quoted by tipsbladet.dk.

“The few times we tried to come back, we were charged at the other gate. We couldn't put physical pressure on them like our opponents did. France played betterThomsen added.

The former coach of CSM Bucharest called for moderation and stated that her players should be praised, not criticized, Denmark coming to the final tournament in Holland and Germany with many young handball players, who made up for the multiple absences from the team.

“You can say all kinds of negative things about this game. I think you should start praising these girls. It hasn't been easy from the beginning of November until now. They always gave 100% and that's what we agreed to do. So instead of blaming them for all kinds of things, we should praise them“, concluded Thomsen.