You scored your first three goals with Montpellier in the Coupe de France in January. Can we say that your season is definitely launched and that it freed you?
Yes, that’s exactly the term I would use, because I believe a forward needs confidence. And when we score our first goal in our club, it’s always a source of pride. Now, I hope it will pass. In addition, it’s difficult when you’re young, because confidence comes and goes. It’s not necessarily that, but we’ll try to maintain it.
Did you come back transformed from your loan at Issy last season?
With Issy les Moulineaux, it was a fairly complicated season, but which allowed me to take maturity from a football point of view. It taught me a lot and when I saw partners again, when we played against them in December, they told me that I had progressed and that I had become a better player.
In which areas, in particular?
In my calls. And I no longer run for nothing, let’s say (laughs). Now I can feel things and I adapt to the team’s style of play, too.
Is speed your strong point?
Yes, and it always has been. Afterwards, I did some athletics. It allowed me to have good speed. I had no regular discipline, I was running, that’s all (laughs).
Do you dream of becoming Montpellier’s number one striker one day?
This is my dream. It’s a goal. Afterwards, I know that I will have to work, that I work a lot. But I believe in it, so there’s no reason it shouldn’t happen.
And become the new Valérie Gauvin, for example, in the France team?
Yes, this is a dream. Every day, I try to get closer to it. Afterwards, it will start first with a World Cup. I hope to be there at the end of the year, with the U-20s in Costa Rica. I experienced a qualifying round for the Euro U-17. Unfortunately, we lost 1-0 against Portugal there. I still have it in my throat. Costa Rica, we are already qualified, the objective will be to win it.
What are you doing to achieve your goals?
More hours of work. Next, I analyze each match I make with my agent. We look for the good and the bad. We focus more on what I’m doing wrong, since that’s what I have to work on and we put things in place so that I can erase what’s wrong.
You grew up in the Val d’Oise. How did you end up in Montpellier?
It’s quite funny. In fact, I had a friend who was in Montpellier, and I told her to tell the U-19 coach about me. His name was Maxime. So he liked my profile and I came. Then, the season was slowed down because of the Covid. Unfortunately, I had to do five months. In the meantime, I got injured. Suddenly, it stopped my momentum a little bit. And the following year, I signed my professional contract in Montpellier.
What is the hardest thing here, when you arrive from Val d’Oise?
A little anecdote: the kiss, for example (laughs). I had a little trouble. Three had to be done. You had to start from the left or from the right, I don’t even know anymore. I was quite disturbed. But beyond that, it’s okay. In the Val d’Oise, we shook hands, we didn’t kiss each other.
Has football always been part of your life?
He arrived a little late. He arrived at the age of 14. I really said to myself: Esther, you are going to get something done in football. Otherwise, before that, I played football here and there. When I had nothing to do, I played football or basketball, I didn’t really have a regular sport.
And what makes you say to yourself, at 14, that this sport is made for you?
Watching Telefoot! It made me want to. I saw that there was a certain enthusiasm around this sport. And to every time I watched this show, it transported me, let’s say.
Would you say that you belong to a generation of women for whom playing football is no longer “impossible”?
Ah yes, because already, in the meantime, women’s football has developed. Now there are structures. In the generations that will follow, there is a lot, a lot of quality. And it is sure that when you have the infrastructure, the coaches, everything available, you can necessarily progress. I was never told that it was impossible. I have always been told the opposite.
Who are your role models in football?
I would say Kylian Mbappe. His speed, his speed of execution, his analysis grip. All that, I like it a lot and it speaks to me.
What do you want to fix?
Today, my game back to goal. I struggle under pressure. We will say that I would like to connect with my partners, to feel things. I still have a little trouble. I’m often told that I have a lot of room for improvement, but I know that I’ll erase what’s wrong, over time, because I believe in it. I have things to do in football.
Like many players, you dream of giving France its first World Cup. What did you think of the 2019 edition?
I watched the teams a lot, the France team and the opposing teams, what they had more or not. And I saw that in some countries, it’s really developed. I am thinking of the United States, for example. It shows that they have something more and I hope that one day we will reach their level or even exceed them.