Men’s EuroHockey U21 Championship preview – France
Appearances: 11
Best performance: 3rd (1984)
France have been one of the powerhouses on the Junior World Cup stage – with 2023 silver and 2021 bronze – for the past three editions and they will look to translate that to the European stage this week.
Indeed, they only missed out on another medal shot last December in a quarter-final shoot-out to eventual champions Germany after normal time ended 2-2. They have a dozen of that side still available.
There has been a change on the coaching front with Matthias Dierckens now the Performance Manager with Bruno Michielssen, his assistant in India, taking over with fellow Belgian Maurice Dubois coming into the T2 role.
“Our selection is based on a majority of players who were at the World Cup and on the young U18 generation who shone last summer in Lille,” Michielssen says.
** 24 EuroHockey U21 Championship matches from Pitch 1 in Valencia will be broadcast live on www.eurohockeytv.org with an €8.99 event pass (Click the graphic for more information)
“It’s therefore a question of working on continuity while making room for new developments with this young generation and with Maurice’s presence alongside us.”
“We have grown a lot and worked hard, especially on our identity. It is about asserting, to everyone and especially to our opponents, our image of a ‘Gallic village’, one of never giving up collectively in defense to allow us to give more freedom to the ball and to take maximum pleasure in progressing together.”
There are goals a plenty in the side with James Liddiard netting against Belgium and Australia in December; Saint Germain’s Hugo Dolou grabbed four in the Junior World Cup while Racing Club de France’s Arthur Plauche scored a hat trick against Korea.
Gaspard Denis (pictured) is the star man in midfield, earning himself a transfer to Uccle next season; he was part of the French squad who won World Cup qualification in March in Chile.
Teenager Aristide Michaelis was in the FIH Nations Cup panel last month, gaining senior experience while Arthur Morcrette is the most experienced member of the panel, being ever-present at the last two World Cups and U21 Euros.
They will however miss the drive of Malo Martinache who has now graduated fully to the senior panel.
France will face Switzerland, then Belgium, and finally Germany. “Nothing will be easy in this group, but we are ready for the fight and we will do everything we can to achieve our first objective: qualifying for the U21 World Cup.”
| # | Name | Caps | Goals | Goals |
| 1 | Antoine Robert (GK) | 11 | 0 | Complutense (ESP) |
| 2 | Jonas Mahé | 6 | 0 | Racing Club de France |
| 3 | Dimitri Bardin | 0 | 0 | HC Nantes |
| 4 | Mathieu Lekieffre | 0 | 0 | Polo Marcq-en-Barouel |
| 7 | Gabriel Piole | 11 | 4 | Saint Germain |
| 8 | James Liddiard | 11 | 5 | CAM92 |
| 9 | Hugo Dolou | 6 | 4 | Saint Germain |
| 10 | Oscar Delacroix | 0 | 0 | Lille MHC |
| 11 | Achille Loussif | 6 | 1 | Racing Club de France |
| 12 | Gaspard Denis (C) | 12 | 3 | Lille MHC |
| 13 | Jose Lafuente (GK) | 5 | 0 | Lille MHC |
| 16 | Imanol Balestracci | 0 | 0 | FC Lyon |
| 18 | Arthur Plauche | 11 | 4 | Racing Club de France |
| 19 | Alexandre Hannaert | 6 | 0 | Saint Germain |
| 20 | Arthur Morcrette | 17 | 2 | Saint Germain |
| 21 | Floris Van Der Stok | 0 | 0 | SCHC (NL) |
| 22 | Aristide Michaelis | 11 | 2 | Racing Club de France |
| 24 | Gabin Lorrazuri | 6 | 4 | CAM92 |
| Frédérique PIllons | Team Manager | |||
| Bruno Michielssen | Head Coach | |||
| Maurice Dubois | Assistant Coach | |||
| Adrien Verpraet | Physiotherapist | |||
| Antoine Lecouffe | Physical Trainer | |||
| Théo Cally | Video Technician | |||
