“We’re going to give it our all for the fans who follow us,” promises Les Bleues full-back Sakina Karchaoui ahead of Paris 2024

Before competing in her second Olympic Games, the 28-year-old Parisian must help Les Bleues qualify for the next Euro.

All heads are already turned towards the Olympic Games. But before reaching Lyon where they will stay during the competition, the Blues have the mission of validating their ticket for Euro 2025 in Switzerland. To do this, they need a victory, against Sweden in Dijon on Friday July 12 or in Ireland on July 16. At the heart of the preparation of Hervé Renard’s players at Clairefontaine in view of a lively summer, Paris Saint-Germain full-back Sakina Karchaoui spoke to franceinfo: sport.

franceinfo: sport: A few days before the entry of the Blues into the Olympic Games (against Colombia on the 25th), are you able to project yourself into the competition or are the two upcoming qualifying matches for the Euro preventing you from being 100% focused?

Sakina Karchaoui: The Olympic Games, we’ve been thinking about them for years. Now, it’s tomorrow. Even if these two qualifying matches are going to be important.

Did you arrive at Clairefontaine for the start of preparation with the feeling of having had enough of a break after a long season?

By the end of the year, we were really exhausted, mentally and physically. These three weeks of vacation were good, we would have liked to have a month, but it allowed us to recharge our batteries and come back in top form.

We left Les Bleues with a difficult performance against England in Saint-Etienne (1-2). Hervé Renard even spoke of an “unworthy” performance in the first half. Now that you’re calm, how do you explain that you missed out?

In the first leg, we played a very good match. [victoire 2-1, quatre jours plus tôt à Newcastle]. It’s important to say this because we were solid defensively. It’s true that on the return leg, we knew that the English were going to attack hard and there was also a lot of fatigue. Besides, we feel it during the preparation. That match wasn’t the best, it’s normal for the coach to bang his fist on the table. That’s how he wakes us up too. We know the mistakes we make and we try to fix them.

In the team, several players can play in two or three positions. You were also a left winger during your last selection. Is this a clearly expressed desire by the coach to have so much versatility in view of the Games?

We have a lot of discussions with the coach and assistant Laurent Bonadéi on this subject. Being versatile is always a plus in a group, it gives many more solutions. Especially since we will be playing every three days at the Olympics: we will never be able to play all the matches. For my part, II was a relay player at Newcastle. However, it’s a position that I don’t play at all at club level. There, I played on the wing. I played as a number 10 when I was younger… These are positions that are not usual but not unknown either.

“I showed in England that I could play in midfield.”

Sakina Karchaoui

to franceinfo: sport

With PSG, I want to play a level higher next year, oI talked about it with the club. I love the left-back position, let’s say I’ve mastered it perfectly. So today, I’d like to play higher up to be able to rely even more on my dribbling and impact skills. It will be up to the new coach to decide. [Fabrice Abriel a été nommé entraîneur lundi].

You are approaching your sixth international competition with Les Bleues, how does your role as leader within the group translate?

It’s something very natural. It’s a pleasure to pass on to the next generation, to put young people at ease so that they can express themselves 100%. I want to continue to set a good example. In football, we often have two personalities. On the pitch and in team life, you have to know how to say things with the right words. In my family, I am Sakina, someone who is always calm.

You left home at the age of 12 to continue your training at Montpellier HSC. Would you say that this had an impact on your character today?

Clearly, it shaped me! Being more independent helps you make decisions more quickly. Relying less on your parents really helped me grow in all aspects of my life. It was a difficult experience because I am the second youngest of five children, not counting half-brothers and half-sisters. Leaving the family cocoon and ending up in a foster family, just the three of us with the mom and dad… I cried about it but I was able to face these challenges.

In 2019, you participated in the World Cup in France without having much playing time. Do you have a feeling of revenge before playing a new tournament at home?

That period, it came at a bad time with the World Cup… (She thinks.) In the eight years that I’ve been in the French team, there have only been five months where I haven’t played. It was the coach’s decision [Corinne Diacre, qu’elle ne nomme pas]it’s true that it wasn’t crazy love with the former coach. It took away a competition from me at home, as it did from other girls, including Delphine Cascarino and Grace Geyoro.

“We stuck together, we pulled each other up so as not to give up. It was a complicated period because we said to ourselves: ‘I have everything to play, I had everything to be on the field and I was left out.’ It was a very hard ordeal to take because it was unjustified.”

Sakina Karchaoui

to franceinfo: sport

Today, we have to take that experience into account. The Olympic Games are something incredible. When I found out it was in France, I told myself that a second competition at home is not given to everyone. We have to have a smile on our face, we’re going to give it our all for the fans who come to follow us. Plus, we’ll be close to our families too, it’s magnificent. Everything is there to go and smash everything.