France begins its World Cup against Jamaica, Sunday in Sydney.
Serious things are getting closer. While the competition has been officially launched, the France team is only two days away from its entry into the running against Jamaica, on July 23, at the Sydney Football Stadium. Among the last questions, the physical form of the group, after three weeks of preparation and “disparate states of form”in the words of Hervé Renard before the friendly match against Ireland.
Present to the press on Thursday July 20, Kadidiatou Diani and Elisa De Almeida spoke about their physical form. Injured in the collarbone at the end of March, the former PSG striker missed the entire end of the season, before playing again for the first time against Ireland two weeks ago. “Personally, it’s fine, at first I struggled physically but I think it’s normal”she explained, before ensuring: “Today, I find rhythm.”
Elisa De Almeida suffered from adductors during the preparation, but she said she no longer felt any pain: “I had a gradual recovery, today I’m at 100%, […] I worked with the medical staff and the physical trainers. Today everything is fine and I’m ready.” She played half an hour late against Ireland, and the first half against Australia.
“We will know how to respond to this physical fight”
For the defender of the capital club, the Blue will be ready to hold on physically, while Hervé Renard had regretted a lack of aggressiveness against the Matildas. “We worked to correct some mistakes made against Australia. It was still a preparation match, we were not yet 100% physically. But for Sunday, we are all 100% ready and we will be able to respond to this physical fight”she assured.
Stretcherd out in added time in the final warm-up game against Australia and sprained by a sprained ankle, Selma Bacha cycled with some high-intensity moments – and with a smile – on the edge of the pitch during Wednesday’s training session open to the press. That day, defender Aïssatou Tounkara also started training on the sidelines, chaining laps.
The French team’s path to Australia was paved with injuries. Hervé Renard had to do without Marie-Antoinette Katoto, sidelined since her cruciate ligament injury at the last Euro, and Griedge Mbock, seriously injured in the knee in September 2022 during a match against Greece. Les Bleues also lost Delphine Cascarino, victim of a cruciate ligament rupture in her right knee during the D1 clash between OL and PSG at the end of May. Oriane Jean-François had to leave the group just before the announcement of the list of 23 for an adductor injury. Finally, the comeback Amandine Henry also forfeited just after the match against Ireland, hit in the calf.