Since Tuesday, the players of the French football team have been staying in Deauville, between Le Havre and Caen, where they will start a year 2022, the culmination of which will be the Euro in July (from 6 to 31). But the present for Les Bleues remains the Tournoi de France, which starts on Wednesday February 16 with a match against Finland at the Océane stadium in Le Havre.
For Corinne Deacon, the coach of the France team, the stakes are high. By facing Brazil, the Netherlands and Finland, the one who has led Les Bleues since 2017 will try to adjust her team six months before the start of the Euro, in England. She will also have to manage the return of Kheira Hamraoui to the France group, three months after the attack on the Paris Saint-Germain player.
The Tournoi de France is back
After Calais and Valenciennes, it’s the turn of Caen and Le Havre to host the Tournoi de France. Two years ago, from March 4 to 10, 2020, a few days before the start of national confinement, Les Bleues faced the Netherlands, Canada and Brazil in the North during this friendly competition organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). With two wins and a draw, the French team had won the Tournament.
After the cancellation of the 2021 edition due to sanitary conditions, it is in Normandy that Les Bleues will go to promote women’s football. The objective of the FFF, with the organization of this annual tournament, was to ride the wave of the World Cup which had taken place in France, in the summer of 2019. “It’s the best, a high level tournament with very good teams“, explained Noël Le Graët, president of the federation, in December 2019.
In 2020, the Tournoi de France had been a success. The public had responded despite the spread of Covid-19. To see if it will be the same this year. The Tournament is in any case its return to the best of times for the Blue, six months from the most important meeting of their year.
Last big test before the Euro
In six months, the France team will begin the Euro football in England (from July 6 to 31) in a group where it will face Italy, Belgium and Iceland, three very good teams. As they wander through the qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup (six wins in six games, 37 goals scored, 2 conceded), Les Bleues will really be able to test themselves during this Tournoi de France.
This friendly competition, against the Dutch (5th world nation) reigning European champions and vice-world champions, the Brazilians (7th) and the Finns (28th), will be the last big meeting for the Deacon players. The latter will play two more games in April during the qualifiers for the World Cup. But it is during the next few days, starting with Wednesday against Finland, that the Blue will have to accumulate confidence.
From Clairefontaine to Deauville
Les Bleues have arrived in Deauville, their base camp for the Tournoi de France. #ProudToBeBlues pic.twitter.com/jHfJvkEWOD— French Women’s Team (@equipedefranceF) February 15, 2022
“This Tournament has a double objective, to prepare these April matches and then to switch to the preparation of the Euro“, explained Deacon on Tuesday. The coach wants to be ambitious before these three meetings in Caen and Le Havre: “In the France team, there are no friendly matches. We have two objectives with this Tournament so no tryouts, no rotation, a performing French team over the next three matches.“
Above all, these three meetings will allow Deacon to see more clearly about the forces involved. “There is a large part of these players who will make up the list (of Euros). We are not going to change everything by April and by June“, explained the coach last week. Deacon took advantage of this gathering to recall Kheira Hamraoui, the PSG player. A real test for her workforce.
A group life put to the test
If Eugénie Le Sommer is still shunned by Corinne Deacon, Kheira Hamraoui is making her comeback in the France team. The 32-year-old midfielder, blocked at 36 caps since a last match played with Les Bleues in April 2019 against Japan, was recalled by the coach. A strength for the France team because the talent of the Parisian is undeniable. But questions surround his presence, after his return to the field at the end of January.
On November 4, 2021, Hamraoui was attacked by two individuals in the presence of her teammate Aminata Diallo. The case is still not resolved but relations between Hamraoui and other players from PSG and the France team, such as Kadidiatou Diani or Marie-Antoinette Katoto, have been refreshed. In question, the suspicions brought by Hamraoui against Diallo in this case.
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“The players who make up the France team are professional. The best interest is the national team“, tried to reassure Corinne Deacon, who did not deny the problems that this could cause: “We will be attentive to his life in the group, because you need this mix between performance on the ground and a good state of mind in group life. When we live together for twelve days during a rally, or on a major competition like the Euro, everyone has to get along well.“
On the ground as in the locker room, this Tournament of France will therefore be revealing for the Blue, six months before the Euro. A competition in which France aims better than a quarter-final, its best result, achieved three times on the continental scene.