“Winning the Nations League would be the best preparation for Paris 2024”, believes the Bleues assistant coach

Before facing the Germans, David Ducci, assistant coach to Hervé Renard, talks about the state of mind of an “uninhibited” team.

The French women’s team is playing the semi-finals of the League of Nations on Friday February 23 in Lyon, facing Germany, its nemesis. French women deprived of their captain Wendie Renard, but who will be able to count on the good form of Parisian striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto and the return of Delphine Cascarino who is returning from a long injury.

David Ducci, assistant coach to coach Hervé Renard, hopes that this League of Nations will be a launching pad for the Olympic Games in Paris. Interview.

franceinfo: How do you feel about the France team, before its Nations League semi-final against Germany?
David Ducci: Honestly, we’ve been living very well for a year now, all the gatherings are going very well, getting better and better I even want to say. The team is as we are used to seeing it, I feel serene. The girls are focused, concerned, all the lights are green and we can’t wait to be in Lyon on Friday to do battle.

Even in the absence of iconic captain Wendie Renard, injured?
We do not have the choice. We would have preferred to play with her because she is our boss, our captain, our leader, obviously she will eat us up in the game, then she will be present at Groupama Stadium on Friday to support us. We prepared for his absence. We lose Wendie, but on the other hand, we also get Delphine Cascarino back, it’s nice to see her again, it’s good for the group. More generally, our senior players are coming back little by little, all together. And that’s what’s important.

What value does this League of Nations have?
When you’ve never won a title, everything is important. They are competitors, they want to win this match against Germany to give themselves the right to play in the final of the Nations League and possibly win it. What better preparation would it be for us to win a title now to prepare for the Olympic Games and arrive even less self-conscious. Even if I feel the group is much more liberated.

Is there still a complex, a barrier?
Within the team, the staff, we have no complexes. On the other hand, in the environment, we are reminded every day that we have never won anything with the French women’s team. We want to be the first.

Germany is not successful in Les Bleues, with only 3 victories over the last ten years. What is the French team missing to beat the Germans?
Confidence. I believe that today we have perhaps achieved this confidence in ourselves, in our collective, in our ability to achieve a result. We are not afraid. We would like to add this League of Nations to our list of achievements, on the road to a slightly more prestigious title this summer (smiles). This German team has well-known qualities, they are very physical, athletic. They rely a lot on aerial play. We’ve prepared, we’re going to put a game plan in place for that. We have our qualities and we know that we can cause them a lot of problems. Certainly they missed their World Cup, but they have not become a bad team far from it. We take this match very seriously, but with confidence.