France has once again confirmed that its team might be the best ever handball generation in history. “They have their defence, their attack, they have everything. Alongside their physical characteristics they are also knowledgeable – they are complete. I am not ashamed that we lost. We lost against the best team from the past decade. Two more matches still await and we can still finish fifth, which would be a great success. However regardless of all that, I’m satisfied with the way we’ve played so far," added the native of Trebnje, Skube.

Cehte: You could sense our nervousness
The French took an early big lead which was practically impossible to catch later on. "Our start was terrible. We needed ten minutes to score our second goal. I think that was also due to a lack of experience. A quarter-final match has become a routine for the French, a match as any other. On the other side you could sense our nervousness. We were a bit too hasty. We didn't play the system we agreed upon. However we can't feel too bad about it. France is, if not the best, then one of the best teams in handball history. Hat's off to them. I have no idea who could beat them. We've accomplished our primary goal and that was to make to the qualifications for the Olympic Games. That's a goal which many other teams failed to accomplish. Now we face the Danes, and that will also be a very tough match. We have to be motivated and keep our heads high," is how player Klemen Cehte summarized the developments.

Miha Žvižej: The French had to give their best
Pivot player Miha Žvižej regrets that they allowed French goalie Omeyer to make a couple of good saves at the very beginning. "The French deservedly won the match. Even without creating the big lead at the beginning, at the end they would finished the match to their advantage. They were simply the better team. Their goalkeeper also made a couple of good saves, although we knew we weren't supposed to let him. But he's simply in such great form and has had a great percentage of saved shots throughout the championship. The individual quality of their players is indisputable. If you want to have any chance with them you can't allow their goalie to start making saves. So this was a deserved win for France, but they did have to give it their best. I wouldn't say that they feared us, but they did have to play their best to maintain their big lead," said Žvižej. Omeyer saved four of his shots.

Denič: At the moment France is too strong for us
This is what Coach Boris Denič had to say after the match: "We opened the match really bad, but not from a players perspective, as we did create a lot of openings and made quite a few shots. But we didn’t score. Their goalkeeper saved too many of our great chances and the match took a different direction, a direction we had not wished for. After 15 minutes of play we only scored two goals, so everything went wrong. In the second-half we did manage to "win a break" as we came back from 14:22 to 20:24. We then had two possessions to cut the lead to three. But then we got two technical fouls, and they broke away to 20:26, and the match was pretty much over. I am happy that we played fast, but you should play that way during the whole match if you want to beat the French. In any case, at this moment France is too strong a force for us, and physically we are unable to stand up to it."

On Friday at 16.30h Slovenia will take on Denmark in the 5th – 8th placement matches. If Slovenia wins it will then face the winner of the Germany – Croatia match on Saturday to play for finishing 5th. If it loses, it will then play the match for 7th place.