the Blues, helpless, missed their final

The France team was beaten by Spain (2-0) in the Nations League final on Wednesday evening in Seville.

The blue dream came to an abrupt end. Five days after winning the first international final in their history, the Blues discovered the pain of stumbling on the last step, beaten by Spain in the Nations League, Wednesday February 28, at La Cartuja in Seville. Dominated throughout the match by the Spanish who were superior tactically and technically, Hervé Renard’s players gave the impression of never really getting into their match.

“Spain dominates world football. Tonight, the best team won”, first reacted the French coach, speaking little at the W9 microphone just a few moments after the final whistle. Before returning to his team’s shortcomings, Hervé Renard praised the evening’s opponent. “I played against an Iniesta, Isco, Busquets midfielder in 2018, I had the impression of seeing the same thing this evening”he declared in particular at a press conference in the bowels of La Cartuja.

“Asphyxiated” by the “significant pressure”

For him, his players lacked intensity and mastery of the leather on their feet. “Football is simple, you have to be aggressive when you don’t have the ball. And when you are able to recover it, which has been our case many times, you must not lose it again immediately “he analyzed, pointing to the “significant pressure” put by the Spanish who “asphyxia” its players. “The lesson is that we made too many technical errors, due to the pressure put on this evening”he repeated. “We foiled, we didn’t manage to keep the ball when we needed to, we made too many mistakes, because they put pressure on us”added Grace Geyoro.

“We have never been able to put this Spanish team in danger.”

Hervé Renard

at a press conference

Without hiding their faces, the Blues themselves found themselves underneath. “We feel like we missed out on our match, we didn’t play the match we wanted to play”regretted the captain of the evening, Eugénie Le Sommer, in the mixed zone, who said “disappointed, frustrated, angry”. “In the first half, we have to do better, let them play less. We have to be closer to each other, we are not clean enough to get the ball out when we get it back. We have to play better”she had already explained to the microphone of W9 at the edge of the field.

Learn from defeat

Did they leave too much energy during the historic victory against Germany, their first against the Nationalelf in official competition? “There is also the repetition of two matches in five days, it is not easy”recognized the coach, while his players sometimes seemed exhausted.

Affected, the Blues do not want to feel sorry for themselves and have already assured that they will learn from this defeat. “In football, you must not get discouraged, and you must continue to move forward”, said Eugénie Le Sommer. They have five months to digest this disappointment and get back on track in pursuit of a new Olympic title at home.