without Wendie Renard, the Blue rearguard faces the challenge Alexandra Popp

Injured, the captain of the France team will not be able to bring her experience to her defense on Friday against Germany, when competing for a place in the final of the League of Nations.

A void to fill. It is without its captain that the French team sets out to conquer its first title, Friday February 23, with a Nations League semi-final against Germany in Lyon (9 p.m., live on France 3 and france.tv). Injured in a hip since December, the captain of the Bleues, Wendie Renard, did not recover in time to take part in the Final Four.

Being deprived of its 1.87 m defender is necessarily a hard blow against an opponent whose French selection knows only too well the ability to create opportunities in the air. Despite their surprise elimination in the first round of the last World Cup, the Germans intend to confirm their black beast status – they are undefeated against France in official competition – to continue their reconstruction, achieving a victory and their Olympic qualification at the same time.

There is no reason to worry, however, according to Charlotte Lorgeré, the RC Lens defender who joined the ranks of the French team in 2017. “If Wendie Renard had been injured last weekend, her absence would have completely disorganized the girls in their mental approach to the match. But now, we have suspected for a while that she will not be there. They had time to prepare for it., notes the artesian player. Calmness also displayed by Hervé Renard when announcing his list on February 14, given the depth of his pivotal squad.

“We will miss Wendie, but we have something to answer for in the air. There are a lot of possibilities,” had stated the coach before renting “the brilliant World Cup with a perfect defensive header” by Maëlle Lakrar and “constant progression” of the young Thiniba Samoura (20 years old) – who came for the first time in A during the trip to Portugal at the beginning of December (1-0) – who continues good performances with PSG. Two players likely to accompany Griedge Mbock back in full possession of her means after her return from a serious knee injury at the start of the season. Not mentioned by the technician among the possible alternatives in the axis, Elisa De Almeida is expected to start on the right, as she has been for two rallies.

Popp, phantom menace

The fact remains that opposed to the German armada, which does not hesitate to rush into the attack to bring the surplus in the last third, the French defense risks having a lot to do. More in any case than during the first six Nations League matches, where she only conceded one goal. “Being able to control Alexandra Popp will be one of the main keys to the matchpredicts Charlotte Lorgeré about the one who scored the last four German goals against France. The Blues are much faster at the back, but she knows how to make herself forgotten by placing herself slightly behind the defenders.”

“On a succession of centers, when you start to move back, you have to constantly have a visual view of him and stand in three quarters, in his direction, to stay ahead. This requires a lot of communication between the axials. “

Charlotte Lorgeré, defender at Lens

at franceinfo: sport

At 32, the one nicknamed “Poppi” across the Rhine is having another high-flying season with Wolfsburg (five goals, five assists), despite an outing against Paris FC in the preliminary round of the Champions League that n Didn’t forget to remind Hervé Renard on the eve of the match. On Friday, she will be keen to remember Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, against whom she scored a double in the semi-finals of Euro 2022 (2-1). Demoted to number 2 in goals due to shortcomings in the kicking game after the World Cup, the Turin player is “on favorable ballot” to start in Lyon since her competitor, Constance Picaud, is still struggling to win at PSG. “A logical trend, continuing what we saw in November”the coach said on Thursday.

An option that Bérangère Sapowicz, former international goalkeeper (23 caps), does not favor. “To foil the plans of the German team, we would do better to favor the size of Constance in order to counter the timing of Popp’s header”she explains. “It’s a very special position.shade Charlotte Lorgeré. From the moment you don’t play every weekend, psychologically, it can work against you against big teams in the selection. There, Pauline has more playing time than Constance with Juventus. She’s a very reactive goalkeeper when it comes to going to the ground, but there are some bursts of concentration that she lacks in the France team.”. 180 minutes (or more) from a historic first title, the slightest error could be fatal.