Handball: Luka Karabatic bows out of the French team

A page is definitely turning in the French team. By officially announcing this Tuesday that he was ending his international career at 36, Luka Karabatic is putting an end to a great chapter in the history of Les Bleus. "Last season, when my brother Nikola announced the end of his career with the French team, it made me think," he explains on the French Federation's website. "I had never really asked myself the question, but now I started to ask myself: And you, Luka, where are you at? After the Games, there was a generational renewal with several departures and then shortly after that of Timothey N'Guessan. When I returned for training last November, I realized that many familiar faces were no longer there. This pushed me to question myself even more. After the failure at the Games, I didn't want to end on a bitter note. I still had the opportunity to play one last big competition and try to end this adventure on a high note. That's when my decision took shape."

A carefully considered decision, therefore, in the image of the man and the champion that he is, of a very calm and composed nature. Qualities that had allowed him to be chosen by his peers to wear the armband in selection, before giving it up himself to Ludovic Fabregas before the last World Championship. A simple, smooth transfer of power. A peaceful retirement in his eyes. "I am happy and grateful to have lived this adventure with the French team. When I look back on my career, I tell myself that it is incredible. Until I was 18, I was still a tennis player and I watched the French team on television. To then be able to be part of this story, to win titles and also to experience failures, all this is part of a great adventure. And today, I end it in peace, with the feeling of duty accomplished."

In the French team, Luka Karabatic will have won everything, with two world champion titles (2015 and 2017), an Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021 shared with his brother and two European crowns (2014 and 2024). Due to his handball skills, "Loulou" , his nickname, will also have had the merit of silencing his detractors who believed, during his first steps with the blue jersey, that he was only benefiting from the influence of his elder Nikola. A reference on the world level in defense, the Paris SG pivot also has a very sure hand in attack. And he did not miss his last in selection during the last World Cup with his goal from midfield in the last second against Egypt, which allowed France to reach the last four. "It's a beautiful wink from destiny," he confides. "The collective emotion and the communion with my teammates will remain engraved in me."

It's always with a little dust in the eye that we see players leave.

Guillaume Gille

For the French team, a page is naturally turning, Luka Karabatic no longer having, on the field, the leading role that he had before. His succession, shared by Ludovic Fabregas and Nicolas Tournat as pivot, is assured. "This phase had been open for some time" , analyzes the coach Guillaume Gille. "Beyond his performances, Loulou marked the French group with his state of mind by placing the team above all. He was always ready to make enormous efforts for the collective and he played a very important role for the team and in the transmission. The last World Cup is the illustration (...) It is always with a little dust in the eye that we see players leave and it is, despite everything, the idea that the great carousel of the French team continues to turn and that the group renews itself." And to continue to see him play, there will still be the PSG matches since his retirement only concerns the selection, not his club.