The French Olympic women’s football team lost after twelve minutes of added time in stoppage time against Canada on Sunday evening in Saint-Etienne (1-2). This defeat was compounded by the injury-related exits of goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, who suffered a head collision in a fortuitous duel with her teammate Griedge Mbock, and captain Wendie Renard, who suffered a left thigh injury.
After the meeting, Hervé Renard obviously had a bad look on his face. “It ended badly. We lost Pauline (Peyraud-Magnin), then Wendie (Renard), we had a chance to lead 2-1… But we weren’t strong enough to get the point that would have qualified us. It was the worst scenario that could have happened. It was a very bad evening. We had to keep the score. What’s more, with Vanessa Gilles (Canadian defender) in front. We had to protect the axis, be solid. We let them strike, Constance (Picaud) pushed back. We weren’t there yet again. We got penalized. We didn’t succeed in qualifying. We have to keep our heads up. We’re still virtually first (in fact, they’re second). We have to go for first place and qualification.”declared the coach of the Blues in the mixed zone, quoted by
The Team.
Hervé Renard expects and demands another face of the Bleues
“We’re not going to make excuses, continues the winner of the CAN 2012. The extra time is the same for both teams. The score makes us speak unfavorably. We would have preferred to lead on Marie’s opportunity (Katoto, in the 90th + 9). In the second half, we made a lot of technical errors by throwing the ball away while we had some good sequences of conservation in the first. We should have been more consistent. We will focus on qualifying. We will have to be much better than what we show in certain parts of the match. There are others in which we play well. We have to find this happy medium. It is not easy. We ask for this serenity. In addition, Wendie (Renard) was not there. It was a little more difficult.
Despite this setback, Les Bleues remain in a favorable position to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2024 Olympics. On Wednesday evening, they will face New Zealand for their final group match. A team against which they will have to take at least one point to get out of the group stage.
