Messy, the French team failed to get rid of the Reggae Girlz, for its first match of the World Cup, Sunday evening in Sydney.
Not the ideal start. The France team was held in check by Jamaica (0-0) for its first match of the World Cup, Sunday July 23, at the Sydney Football Stadium, in Australia. In an enclosure acquired from their opponents, embarrassed and sometimes put under pressure by a well-organized Jamaican team, and despite a second period of better quality, the Blues too rarely managed to build and be dangerous.
This is probably not the way they wanted to start their tournament. Under the heavy rain and the fresh wind that swept through the night in Sydney, the Blues did not completely manage to free themselves and develop their game. Faced with a solid and athletic Jamaican team, they were initially too shy and then too imprecise to create danger in the opposing half of the field.
In a very physical meeting, marked by numerous contacts (after 13 minutes of play, the game had already been interrupted twice for several minutes to treat three players), they failed to rely on their technical superiority to make the difference, despite an increase in intensity and better construction over the minutes. After having finished the first period much better than they had started it, they generally dominated the second half.
Lack of aggressiveness then efficiency
But they too often made the gesture too much in the zone of truth, hesitated to take their chance, and lacked realism and efficiency. Twice from a corner, Wendie Renard headed the ball close to the Jamaican uprights. Kadidiatou Diani also found herself in a good position several times in the area, before touching the bar in the 90th minute. At 11 against 10 in added time, after the exclusion of captain Khadija Shaw for a foul on Wendie Renard, they threw themselves into the attack of the Jamaican cage, without success.
With this disappointing result, against the 43rd nation in the world, Hervé Renard’s players also paid for their complicated start to the match, during which they had a little “panic”, in the words of Hervé Renard during the break at the microphone of M6. Like Estelle Cascarino, established in place of the injured Elisa De Almeida, and Maëlle Lakrar, who honored her 5th selection only in the tricolor jersey, who struggled to find the right rhythm and did not always know where to place themselves on the field.
With this scoreless draw, they could see the Brazilians, the other favorite of the group, take control of group F if they win against Panama on Monday. Les Bleues will face the South Americans for their next match, Saturday July 29, in Brisbane. Already with an obligation of result.