Qualification for the quarter-finals of the Women’s Euro; the loss of Marie-Antoinette Katoto for the rest of the competition; the less convincing performance of the players of Corinne Deacon, Football.fr returns to the 2nd match of the French women’s team against Belgium (2-1).
▪Deacon, a lie that makes a stir
« Doesn’t look too bad, but she hurts ». Halfway through France-Belgium, on TF1, Corinne Deacon wanted to be reassuring about Marie-Antoinette Katoto, while his center-forward suffered greatly from his knee when he left at the start of the game. The images already suggested a serious injury and the coach’s speech, with the idea of sparing her troops, created a stir with the press. The handling of this encounter, which offered the group first place, turned Katoto’s concern. After the meeting, the players also received instructions to be positive in front of the journalists about the possible injury of the PSG striker.
▪ The game of the Bleues still disappointing
We expected them in this register, they again disappointed. Whether Card Diani and its partners had attacked the Women’s Euro very hard, showing themselves to be twirling offensively during the first period against Italy (5-1), they had not retained control over the match after returning from the locker room, not displaying much collective mastery. Faced with tough and well-grouped Belgians, the Bleues have had trouble this time being dangerous, even if Clara Matéo, tenured for the occasion, is a talented offensive player capable of finding a fault everywhere in the enemy camp. Is the way of attacking French women already known to everyone? It will absolutely be necessary to be more proactive in attack placed for the future.
▪Diani-Cascarino, automatic change
The game of the French women’s team too often boils down to Kadidiatou Diani’s accelerations on the right side (or in the heart of the game when she asks Eve Périsset to get high on the wing). The PSG striker is the team’s X factor (like at the 2019 World Cup), it is she who creates danger by challenging several opponents, offering more space to her teammates. However, the staff of Corinne Deacon, like last Sunday, asked Diani and Delphine Cascarino to change sides at the half-hour mark. Facing the Red Flames, the Blues suddenly lost the thread of the match for a few minutes with the Diani-Cascarino inversion. A moment of hesitation which resulted in the Belgian equalizer in the 36th. As luck would have it, the EDFF moved forward with Diani’s percussion on the right.
▪Katoto’s understudy missed the mark
Some would regret the absence of the very experienced Eugenie Le Sommer (dismissed like Amandine Henry), but Corinne Deacon finds herself indeed helpless after Katoto’s withdrawal for the rest of the competition. Ouleymata Sarr is the center-forward understudy in the tricolor group, even if she does not often play number 9 at Paris FC. She was launched against the Belgians in the 17th minute and multiplied the runs, losing lucidity in the second half on two good scoring opportunities. Shaking the nets would have done him a lot of good. It would also have relieved his coach… Melvine Malard could be used in front.
▪Renard is a confident captain
Wendie Renard was damn bad on her penalty at the end of the match (90th), falling on the Belgian goalkeeper before sending her shot from the left out of frame in front of an empty goal. But the captain of Les Bleues, who won the Champions League 8th time with OL, does not dwell on this kind of failure. It was with complete serenity that she answered the many questions from journalists after the game, fully assuming her missed penalty. The 31-year-old defender explained that her Belgian OL team-mate Janice Cayman had obviously given instructions to her goalkeeper Nicky Evrard…
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After their victory against Belgium 2⃣-1⃣, Les Bleues are already qualified for the rest of the competition ?#FiersdetreBleues #WEURO2022 pic.twitter.com/zHkegxxOHi— French Women’s Team (@equipedefranceF) July 14, 2022
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