France team winger Hugo Descat against Portugal during the main round of the Egyptian World Cup in Cairo, January 24, 2021 / POOL / AFP
At 28, left winger Hugo Descat saw his first major competition at the World Cup in Egypt with the French handball team. Whole and teasing, the newcomer with an atypical course brings freshness to the group, and his efficiency in the field.
“He does not need anyone to integrate,” said AFP right-back of the Blues Nedim Remili, his former teammate at Créteil. “He is a very joker, very happy, very roomy guy, he puts a lot of life into everything he does. In the group too, it brings a positive energy, ”explains the PSG player.
Scorer – already 21 since the start of the World Cup, which makes him the 3rd most prolific Frenchman behind Kentin Mahé (28) and Dika Mem (23) -, roomer, charmer too, Descat, author of eight goals against Portugal (32-23), seems to have always been part of this France team that he nevertheless rediscovers late.
Electric battery, the Montpelliérrain and former Cristolien (2011-2017) could in the past suffer from a certain reputation. “I was told that I was a big mouth,” he told AFP. “Yes, I am a big mouth, sure, but I take on a lot of things.”
Like that of having opted for Romania in 2017, to play in the Champions League with Dinamo Bucharest. In an unstable club, between salary delays and hours of waiting at airports to travel cheaper, Descat becomes disillusioned upon his arrival. “I said to myself: + what quagmire am I here?”
– Romanian exile –
Especially since the winger is then separated from his partner, pregnant and party to give birth in his country of origin, Bulgaria. But he “remains strong” and ends up being recruited in 2019 by Montpellier.
French winger Hugo Descat attacks Switzerland’s goal during the Egyptian World Cup in Cairo, January 18, 2021 / POOL / AFP / Archives
“Forged” by this adventure, Descat returns to France with the selection, of which he only wore the jersey twice in 2013, during qualifying matches against Norway, “in a corner of (his) head”. “I told myself that if I managed to win my place in Montpellier and play good matches, it would be obvious.”
At the end of October, the door to the Blues finally reopens: after the withdrawal of several players affected by the Covid-19, the new coach Guillaume Gille calls him for an internship in Créteil. And at the end of December, it was he, rather than the Parisian Mathieu Grébille, who was chosen alongside Michaël Guigou to go to Egypt.
In Cairo, the original Val-de-Marnais delivered an impeccable score against Norway at the outset: his 4/4, including 2 penalties, weighed heavily in the French triumph (28-24).
– A list to garnish –
Less successful against Switzerland (3/6) and against Algeria (0/1), against which he penalizes the Blues (penalty and 2 minutes) in a close end of the match, he regained his confidence against the Portugal.
“I made a good start to the World Cup, after I had one or two complicated matches where I was not too successful and I was also keen to show that I had my place here”, a- he reacted to hot Sunday.
Hugo Descat, in a defensive position, tries to stop the Algerian Abdi Ayyoub in Cairo, January 20, 2021 / POOL / AFP / Archives
Left on the ground, rather than Guigou, on the tense outcome against Algeria (29-26) and Iceland (28-26), he won the confidence of the staff. For Remili, who saw him have “incredible seasons with US Créteil, the hotter the matches, the more important the stake and the more he transcends himself.”
The competitor, whose record for the moment boils down to two Romanian championship titles, is now hungry for international recognition. Thus, when we ask him which opponent he prefers to face in the quarter-finals, the answer is again: “My preference is the gold medal.” Always sharp.
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