Les Bleues lose by the skin of their teeth to the Canadian Olympic champions and lose the lead in their group

Three days after their lackluster start against Colombia, the French women got tangled up against a Canadian team in crisis on Sunday in Saint-Etienne.

A setback for the Bleues. The French team was dominated by its bête noire Canada (1-2), Sunday July 28 in Saint-Etienne, for its second group match of the Olympic Games. As in the failed second half against Colombia on Thursday, the Bleues were unable to put the intensity and intentions into 90 minutes to hope for better against the reigning Olympic champions.

Despite Marie-Antoinette Katoto’s third goal of the tournament to open the scoring (1-0, 42nd), the Canucks managed to turn the tide after the break thanks to two goals from Jessie Fleming (58th) and OL defender Vanessa Gilles who was prowling the box at the end of added time (90th+11). In addition to losing for the third time in as many games against Canada in three editions of the Olympics, the French women lost Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, victim of a cut to the palm after a crampon kick from Griedge Mbock on the opposing team’s equalizer, and Wendie Renard, injured after a crutch to the left thigh. “It’s the worst scenario that could happen, it’s a very bad evening”summarized Hervé Renard in the mixed zone.

In a Geoffroy-Guichard Cauldron brought to the boil by the French public, all the conditions seemed to be there to make us forget the fiasco of the last visit of the Bleues to the Forez at the beginning of June, marked by a defeat against England in front of a majority of empty seats (1-2). But the technical errors and the false rhythm established from the start ultimately weighed down the hosts of the competition, who nevertheless had a match ball through Marie-Antoinette Katoto from six meters (90th + 9).

A result all the more infuriating given that the North Americans were in turmoil, having been penalised with a six-point penalty after a member of staff was caught spying on New Zealand using a drone earlier in the week. “We always make the same mistakes, we come back in the second half without the right ingredients. We concede a goal and we put ourselves in difficulty”regretted Sakina Karchaoui in the mixed zone.

Overtaken by the Colombians on goal difference, the Blues lose the lead in their group with this result. To avoid apothecary calculations in the race for the quarter-finals, they will have to do the work on Wednesday in Lyon during the last group match against New Zealand, who lost their first two games (0-2 against Colombia on Sunday). Not the scenario hoped for by Hervé Renard who was considering making a welcome turnover in the event of qualification this Sunday evening.