News : Know thy enemy with France's spy software

By Sophie Hardach

BEIJING (Reuters) - Intricate spy software has helped France's handballers improve their game and head coach Philippe Bana was hoping to see the dividends at the upcoming Olympics.

The French started using software combining videos of all the players in the world with match statistics to train their teams after Scandinavian handballers successfully incorporated the technology into their training program.

Studying their opponents' every move, strength and weakness, is meant to help players devise the perfect counter-attack.

Bana, speaking with Reuters Thursday during a men's practice session, said the female team "is now able to destroy their (opponents') attack and defense systems."

Similar software is already widely used by footballers and rugby players, but it is still relatively new in handball.

France used a rudimentary version of the current system for the Sydney Games in 2000 but only applied the current software, called "Dartfish," for the Athens Olympics.

"It's a completely different approach, we have video specialists as part of the team so now there is this culture of the video statistic," Bana said, kicking a stray ball back into the field.

France's women will play the first handball match of the Olympics on Saturday morning against Angola, while the men's first game is against Brazil on Sunday afternoon.

In Athens, France narrowly lost to Ukraine and finished fourth, missing the bronze medal.

Despite the elaborate technology, Bana said the game is ultimately won on the court.

"It's not a videogame, at the end the player is playing. In the end, you are alone in the court," Bana said. "This is a human game so you can't go too far in this (software) direction because the player is not a robot."

The Beijing Olympics begin Friday.