There are returns that do not go unnoticed. After two years of absence, Eugénie Le Sommer has lost none of her sense of purpose in the blue jersey. Recalled by the new coach Hervé Renard, after having been shunned by the previous Corinne Deacon, the top scorer in the history of the French women’s team scored twice against Colombia, Friday in Clermont-Ferrand (5-2) .
The Olympique Lyonnais striker now has 88 international goals. And his last two achievements are not anecdotal because they allow the Habs to ideally start their new era with a victory. “I was moved, of course. It was two difficult years but at the time I just thought about this goal which frees me a little bit, confessed the heroine after the meeting. It’s not revenge, I managed to show my qualities and that was the most important thing. »
Les Bleues continue with Hervé Renard a series achieved largely under the orders of Corinne Deacon: 15 games without defeats, including 14 wins and 1 draw. It is now up to them to find the recipe to no longer just be the “world champions” of friendly matches.
Abused for fifty minutes by Colombians, in constant progression, who led 2 to 0, the Blues indeed reacted more than acted at the Gabriel-Montpied stadium. But their reaction was explosive. First, with a blocked shot from Delphine Cascarino which reduced the gap before Le Sommer made his class speak: two goals from pure center forward thanks to a volley in first intention (56th, 2- 2) and a recovery of the head as if in weightlessness, full of finesse and timing (59th, 3-2).
What to attract the praise of his trainer after a kiss on the skull during the meeting: “Eugénie had to be fed well. She made the difference. Congratulations to her. A celebration explained by Le Sommer: “I owe my presence here to him. He was the one who brought me back, I had to throw the ball back to him. It was a small gesture to say thank you for the trust. I was happy that we won for his first. »
Ovation
Once the work was done and the deserved ovation received by Eugénie Le Sommer when she left for the hour mark, her Lyon team-mate Delphine Cascarino imitated her elder by also scoring a double to consolidate the French victory (73rd, 4 -2). And the excellent Grace Geyoro definitely knocked out Colombia during stoppage time (91st, 5-2).
At a press conference, Hervé Renard returned to the planned replacement of his double scorer and his exploit of the evening. “When you score 88 goals in the France team, it is necessarily that you have some qualities, he underlined, She has not played too much lately because she had a calf problem. She has the good idea to score twice before going out because she only had an hour of play in her legs. »
If Hervé Renard began his adventure as a coach with great success, he therefore owes it in large part to the experienced Le Sommer. At 33, the Breton was patient in the first half before coming out of her box like a devil in the second period. The coming into play from the break of Grace Geyoro, Delphine Cascarino and Clara Matéo helped him a lot.
Renard’s predecessor, Corinne Deacon, also began her tenure with a 1-0 win in September 2017 against fellow South American side Chile. Eugénie Le Sommer is one of four players aligned (with Sandie Toletti, Viviane Asseyi and Wendie Renard) in Clermont-Ferrand who were also more than five years ago in Caen.
Before kick-off, the 11,000 Auvergne spectators were not mistaken: the name of the scorer was the most strongly chanted (along with that of captain Renard) when the team composition was announced . The two players remain the most famous Blues.
At OL, this season, Eugénie Le Sommer has only scored seven goals. It must be said that she evolves less often in her favorite position in the axis of the attack. It is sometimes relegated to one side. It was also on the left wing that Corinne Deacon had confined her during the 2019 World Cup, a mess for the one who would beat Marinette Pichon’s goal record in 2020 (81 goals).
” I did not expect that “
Criticized by her coach after this competition, where the French team had been eliminated in the quarter-finals by the future American world champions, Le Sommer had been removed from the French collective after another 2-1 defeat against the United States, in a friendly match played on April 13, 2021. It took almost two years for her to finally honor her 176th selection, fourteen years after her first on February 12, 2009 against Ireland.
On Wednesday, during individual press briefings, Eugénie Le Sommer expressed her surprise at her return: “If someone had told me that ten days ago, I wouldn’t necessarily have believed it. But that’s how life is. I did not expect it, but I am very happy and very proud. And she also detailed the hard times of being sidelined: “I wasn’t expecting anything anymore.” I had almost made up my mind, even if there was still this small hope. It was probably to protect myself that I worked like that. »
Monday, from her first steps in Clairefontaine, the returnee had received a strong gesture of confidence from Hervé Renard. After a meeting with the coach, she was named vice-captain behind the holder of the armband, Wendie Renard, and in the company of Grace Geyoro. “It’s true that it was very fast. I accepted the challenge, I will try to answer this and give him back the confidence he gave me, she confided, Of course you have to get back into it quickly. But I’m not going to reinvent myself. »
If Le Sommer’s consistency is to pile up the goals, the France team has an additional offensive weapon. Not a luxury as two world-class strikers – Parisians Kadidiatou Diani and Marie-Antoinette Katoto – are currently injured. The second is even uncertain for the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (July 20-August 20).
Hervé Renard hopes for their return. And he could then make Eugénie Le Sommer a luxury joker. “It lacks important attackers, he recalled, Eugenie made the best comeback she could do. She knows her role. I told him about it. She will put herself at the service of the collective and that is the most important thing. Tuesday, against Canada at Le Mans, after the attack, it will be up to the defense to reassure and shine.
