A month after its debacle in the Nations League final against Spain, the France team achieved a short but logical success (1-0) on Friday against Ireland.
:quality(50)/2023/07/23/64bcfa33e5011_gabriel-rond.png)
Published
Update
Reading time: 2 mins
:quality(50)/2024/04/05/000-34nq6pz-66106330e5693082776627.jpg)
The Blues are moving forward again. The French team dominated, without ever trembling, the uninspired Irish women, Friday April 5 in Metz. A great reaction from Hervé Renard’s players, outclassed by the Spanish world champions at the end of February. This logical success dispels some of the doubts that arose after this lost Nations League final.
For the occasion, the coach had remodeled his system by starting Kenza Dali – on the bench at the Final Four – in a three-way midfielder. A choice that paid off since the Aston Villa player, in all the good shots, kicked the free kick which resulted in Marie-Antoinette Katoto’s early opening score on a deflection from Maëlle Lakrar (6th, 1-0) .
Euro 2025 qualifiers: France opens the scoring with Marie-Antoinette Katoto
Hervé Renard’s Bleues host Ireland for this first Euro 2025 qualifying match. The Trèfle players concede a foul on Sakina Karchaoui. Kenza Dali shoots the ball at the far post and the action is finished by Marie-Antoine Katoto. France leads 1-0.
At the initiative of most of the collective movements, she could even have benefited from a penalty when she was caught in the area (28th). With a tricolor midfield active in the pressing at the loss, the domination of the locals suffered no challenge. As proof, the Girls in Green never worried Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, more than calm in the goals (first strike suffered in the 85th).
The Blues sinned in the last gesture
Despite everything, the Blues once again sinned in the last gesture, never managing to double the lead despite a slew of opportunities (21 shots, 8 on target). The fault lies with an opposing defense of five, difficult to get around and forcing Hervé Renard’s protégés to take shots that are too far away, like Kenza Dali and Sandie Toletti (14th, 32nd, 40th, 45th+1). “The second goal didn’t come, the goalkeeper did what was necessary to prevent it from coming,” regretted Hervé Renard at the microphone of France 3 at the end of the meeting.
Coming into play like their captain Wendie Renard – whose discomfort at the end of the match raised fears of a concussion before the staff mentioned a “hypoglycemia” – Eugénie Le Sommer, with a header on the crossbar (65th) and Vicki Becho twice (90th), were close to changing the score. In vain. Enough, however, to win and reward the 16,772 spectators at the Saint-Symphorien stadium, engaged in their support for the Blues between olas thrown at the half-hour mark and whistles loud at each attempt by the Irish goalkeeper to break the rhythm.
Thanks to this result acquired against the least tough of their three opponents (25th Fifa nation), the French women take the lead in their qualifying group for Euro 2025 in Switzerland. A good omen before a perilous trip to Gothenburg on Tuesday, on the Swedish pitch. Third in the last World Cup, the Olympic vice-champions conceded a draw against England at Wembley at the same time (1-1). For the Blues, it will be a question of passing this full-scale test in order to completely regain confidence, less than four months before the Games.