Hervé Renard has a big surprise in his list for the next two Les Bleues matches, at the start of December: the big return of Marie-Antoinette Katoto.
She had been waiting for this moment for almost a year and a half. No longer seen in the French team since her terrible injury when Les Bleues entered the fray at Euro 2022, Marie-Antoinette Katoto is preparing to return to the selection. The PSG striker, who returned to the field at the start of the fall, was indeed called up by Hervé Renard for the two Nations League matches, against Austria (December 1) and Portugal (December 5). ).
Victim of a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of the right knee against Belgium, the French international had remained no less than 430 days without playing before returning to the field on the occasion of the first day of D1 Arkema and has recently been moving up little in power. Enough in the eyes of Hervé Renard to signal the time of his return to the Blues.
The French coach has long believed in his return for the World Cup this summer but finally had to make up his mind. “I always hoped for his return, he confided at a press conference. Maybe a little faster but we had to give it time. It was probably the best thing possible in hindsight.”
⌛🔙
A word for the return to selection of @MarieKatoto ? 💬🇫🇷#ProudtobeBlue pic.twitter.com/ugatDQaG1c— French Women’s Team (@equipedefranceF) November 24, 2023
“We have been able to do without it until now, but with her return to the club we will judge what she is capable of doing. We will make the best decision possible, even if we will always have to be careful with it, he continued, determined not to pull too hard. We are in international matches with a lot of intensity, that will do him good too. »
