The main thing is safe for the Bleues, who won 3-2 against Colombia in their first match in the Olympic tournament. The French team nevertheless got off to a big scare. The match had started under the best auspices since the Tricolores were leading 2-0 after just over a quarter of an hour of play. A third goal would round off the first half just before the break and Hervé Renard’s girls seemed to be heading towards a quiet victory.
However, the Blues completely failed in the second half, allowing Colombia to come back to 3-2 shortly after the hour mark. Enough to earn the French a tense end to the match, despite Ramirez’s sending off at the end of the match. Enough to also provoke the great anger of Hervé Renard, who was very angry with his players at the end of the match.
“We came back with the cigar in the second half”
“Congratulations on the victory. But the second half was transparent. It’s all well and good to say that we have ambitions… I have no explanations.”he said at the end of the meeting, adding: “In football, you have to be mentally strong. We came back with a cigar in the second half. If we think we are too strong, we will be punished. Today, we got out of it by a miracle.”
Les Bleues will hardly have time to dwell on this chiaroscuro start. They will indeed continue on Sunday with their second match, against Canada, winner 2-1 over New Zealand in their opening match.
