France - Tunisia 34:25 (15:8)
Sometimes is good to be concerned before a game, how the French stars were, because the relief to win it tastes sweeter after the final whistle. Nikola and his teammates showed a magnificient performance in defence and the opponent needed 13 minutes to score their first action goal. Niko was responsible with sharing assists, he made six. "A beautiful victory. Besides, my parents and my brother are here. Tunisia? We did what we had to do. We performed well in defence, we were disciplined and concentrated in attack, the victory was never in danger. We set the pace and they couldn´t keep it. But we didn´t achieve anything yet, we are not in China. The match against Spain is a final. If we will win it, we almost reach our target. We have to be very solide."
Statistics
France : Karaboué (4 saves), Omeyer (12 saves) ; Fernandez (5/1), Dinart, Burdet (1), G. Gille (4), B. Gille (3), Narcisse (3), Girault (3), Karabatic (2), Kempe, Abati (6/4), Abalo (4), Guigou (3). Coach : Claude Onesta
Tunisia : Drissi (2 Paraden), Maggaiez (6 Paraden) ; Lagha (2), Gharbi (2), Tej (1), Touati (2), Hmam (6), Hammed (2), Bousnina (1), Ben Aziza (4), Ayed (5/3), Amor, Saed. Trainer : Sead Hasanefendic
France - Spain 28:24 (16:13)
Juan Carlos Pastor, Spain´s coach, on 5th February 2006, after the European Championships Final in front of the journalists: "Karabatic broke our neck". A sentence who went around the handball world. At that time Nikola leaded his team to the title, with 11 goals. France won with 31:23 and became for the first time in their history European Champions. 31st May 2008: France - Spain 28:24. Seven goals, seven asissts, this was Nikola´s contribution in front of one of his favourite rivals. His team scored 28 goals and he was at the half involved, proving once more, if it was still necessary, that he is the brain and the killing arm of his squad. And his fellow Didier Dinart appreciates the fact: "Fortunately, he plays in our team". Later in the evening, Norway drawed with Tunisia (30:30), lost any chance to qualify and send the hosts to Beijing. Nikola: "We did it, we will go to Olympics. I will celebrate it with my brother on Sunday".
Statistics
France : Omeyer (14 saves), Karaboué ; Fernandez (1), Dinart, Burdet, G. Gille (1), B. Gille (4), Narcisse (4), Girault (2), Karabatic (7), Kempe, Abati (6/5), Abalo (2), Guigou (1). Coach : Claude Onesta
Spain : Barrufet (20 saves), Hombrados ; Raúl EntrerrÃos (2), Garabaya (1), Prieto, Belaustegui (3), GarcÃa (6/1), Tomás (1), Alberto EntrerrÃos (4), Rocas (2), Lozano (1), Romero (1), Malmagro (3). Coach : Juan Carlos Pastor
France - Norway 28:23 (13:15)
It is hard to focus after you reached your aim; the tiredness after a long season and the relief to achieve what you wished will become your biggest enemies. That´s why France have had for 36 minutes difficulties against Norway. But the players coached by Claude Onesta didn´t want to lose their invincibility, unbeaten since 2000 in "Palais Omnisports Paris Bercy", and they made another effort to win also the last dispute of the tournament. And they succeeded it, especially due to a phenomenal Thierry Omeyer, who had a save percentage of 56%, and also to an excellent Jérôme Fernandez (9 goals).
Nikola: "We ´administrated´ well this competition. The Olympis Games are far away in this moment. First of all, we have holiday for three weeks and I am not keen on thinking now at Olympics. And I am not fancy either to think again at the edition of 2004, even if we kept it long time in our minds. After the bronze in Barcelona, les Blues were not anymore happy at Olympics. But we learn to overcome such moments and this makes us stronger. There are so many games, so many opportunities to live for... "
Statistics
France : Omeyer (10 saves), Karaboué (4 saves) ; Fernandez (9/2), Dinart, Burdet (2), G. Gille (1), B. Gille (2), Narcisse (2), Girault (2), Karabatic (3), Kempe, Abati (2/1), Abalo (1), Guigou (4/1). Coach: Claude Onesta
Norway: Erevik (12 saves), Ege (4 saves) ; Buchmann (4/3), Vatne (1), Loke (4), Myrhol (2), Lund, Tvedten (2), Mamelund (3), Rykkje (2), Jorgensen (4), Stokglund (1), Stegavik. Coach : Gunnar Pettersen
