'End of my first life': Karabatic bids emotional farewell

France lose in overtime after failing to close out quarter-final to end handball legend's chance of fourth gold

- Nick Ames

Nikola Karabatic looked around, up to the gods and to either side. More than 26,500 people were on their feet, celebrating him and chanting his name, the noise echoing around this repurposed football stadium as it had all afternoon.

At ground level, his colleagues joined their German counterparts in leading the acclaim. One of the great French sporting careers was finally over, although nobody could quite say how. This handball quarter-final was an all-time classic: an occasion of suitable pitch for an icon to bow out.

How could France have fluffed their lines like this? Karabatic is 40, the best player in history and a three-time Olympic gold medallist.

He has seen it, done it, won it all and the plan was that he would sign off with another title for the Tokyo 2020 champions.

For most of the match Les Bleus, a shadow of themselves in the group stage, seemed to have understood the stakes. With 13 seconds left they were two goals clear; with six to play the margin was one but all they had to do was retain possession or simply take a pot shot.

The France coach, Karabatic's former teammate Guillaume Gille, called a time out and it gave their opponents a chance to reset. They had seemed resigned to the hosts running down the clock but could now prime themselves to throw whatever energy remained into winning back that ball.