After a long break, our Rouge et Bleu returned to action. For the fourth year running, the capital club has kicked off its pre-season preparations in Japan, with intense training sessions in a superb setting. Stefan Madsen had the opportunity to put his squad – particularly his three new signings – through their paces for the first time this season in a friendly against Zeekstar Tokyo, an ambitious club aiming for a prestigious victory to get their campaign off to the best possible start.
In the electric atmosphere of a packed Ariake Arena, it was the Parisians who opened the scoring, thanks to a seven-metre throw converted by Bjarki Elisson – his first goal for his new club (2': 1–0). With three early goals to his name, Elohim Prandi led his side’s attack as they pulled away in the opening minutes (7': 6–2) . After a completely controlled first quarter of an hour, the capital club had built up a comfortable lead on the scoreboard (15': 14–5).
Stefan Madsen made numerous substitutions to run the rule over his entire squad. Having only just come on, Kamil Syprzak got his season off to a flying start with a powerful goal. He was followed a few minutes later by Noah Gaudin, whose superb shot found the top corner (20': 17–9). Yahia Omar’s first goal rounded off Les Rouge et Bleus' excellent start to the match for Les Rouge et Bleu, who displayed an attractive attacking style of play for their return to action (30': 22–14).
The second half got off to a flying start, and the pace was furious. In his first few minutes back in the Parisian jersey since his departure in 2020, Rodrigo Corrales treated the Japanese crowd to three superb saves in quick succession (37': 27–17). The new signings showed their quality, with Bjarki Elisson taking his goal tally to six and Frederik Ladefoged scoring his first goal in Rouge et Bleu (43': 31–18).
While the team’s link-up play could still use some fine-tuning, the new signings look promising for a season in which the capital club will be aiming to excel on all fronts. With eight saves already to his name, Rodrigo continued to shine, while Kamil kept racking up the goals (51': 35–23). With ten minutes remaining, Stefan Madsen could already be satisfied with a successful return to action for his side.
With 13 different goalscorers, the Parisian coach had the luxury of making numerous changes to the line-up. In his first match, Bjarki Elisson particularly shone, finishing as top scorer (eight goals), in a game that the capital club dominated comfortably (60': 41–31). In their return to the action, Les Rouge et Bleu put in a fine performance - one they will be out to emulate immediately, with their second friendly on the cards for the following day.
Bjarki Elisson: eight goals, Kamil Syprzak: six, Elohim Prandi: five, Mateo Maras: four, Sebastian Karlsson, Yahia Omar: three, Luka Karabatic, Luc Steins, Noah Gaudin, Ferran Solé: two, Wallem Peleka, Simen Lyse, Frederik Ladefoged: one. Mikkel Lovkvist, Rodrigo Corrales: 11 saves.
The Parisians will be back in action tomorrow with another pre-season friendly in Tokyo, against Japan’s Under-21 national team. The match takes place at 12:00 (French time) on Wednesday 5 August, live on the Paris Saint-Germain Handball YouTube channel and on PSG TV.
