former player Nadia Benmokhtar calls on the French to be careful against Jamaica, “very athletic team”

While the French women’s football team launches its World Cup on Sunday July 23 against Jamaica at 12 p.m., Nadia Benmokhtar, football consultant for Radio France, calls on franceinfo les Bleues to be careful. She explains herself “beware of this game” in Sydney and fears that he is “a trap because Jamaica is a very athletic team, which puts a lot of speed”. “Even if the France team is on paper above, we will have to put a maximum level of intensity from the start so as not to be trapped”warns the former footballer.

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Nadia Benmokhtar recalls that a first World Cup match is always very important, because “he will set the tone for the future” of the competition. She therefore recommends that French women “not to get in trouble before their second game against Brazil” on July 29, especially since Brazilian women are the “second favorite of the group” f. “We have to take points today to approach the Brazil game as a game where we can already qualify, rather than a cutthroat game”explains the football consultant.

The former high-level player judges the workforce of the Blue “interesting” for this World Cup with the presence in its ranks “experienced players and younger players”. She notes that “a lot of uncertainty, because the staff took up their duties a few weeks ago and did not have a lot of preparation time”. Nadia Benmokhtar also deplores the fact that several “executive players are injured, as [l’attaquante] Delphine Cascarino and [la milieu] Amandine Henry. “Since 2011, at each competition, we expect them to be favorites and to win, and since the level of expectation is much lower, let’s hope for some nice surprises”says the football consultant.

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Nadia Benmokhtar argues that Les Bleues, who “are ambitious”, still have every chance for this World Cup. She believes that “if the France team is to win, it will go through a very strong collective and emulation”. “We will talk about a successful World Cup if they reach the semi-finals”, she says. The former footballer has not noticed since the start of this World Cup “a team really above the lot”. She mentions that “the United States, favorites, the English who were also favorites but who struggled to win in their first match”.