The French women’s team finally sees the end of the tunnel after the chaotic end of Corinne Deacon’s mandate. From his first list and his first declarations, the new coach of Les Bleues, Hervé Renard, wanted to make a clean sweep of the past: he reached out directly to the former banished and to the recent rebels. As a sign of appeasement for the next two friendlies against Colombia and Canada, he chose to recall Eugénie Le Sommer and Wendie Renard, two figures of French women’s football. The latter were at odds with Corinne Deacon, who was landed by her federation at the beginning of March.
At a press conference, the 54-year-old coach proclaimed his intention to turn the page on the previous tumultuous months for this French women’s team, in search of a second wind. “I followed the news. The FFF gave me a list of selected players which included all the players concerned. I believe that the Federation gave me the green light to select them. I was not present before. What happened is none of my business. I focus on the present and the future, the important thing today is to move forward. »
Strong choices, feedback, confirmations! Discover the ????????????????? ?????????? of the new coach @Herve_Renard_HR ??
Eight years after his last challenge in France near Lille, Hervé Renard accepted the delicate mission of taking charge of Les Bleues four months before the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. After winning the African Cup of Nations twice with Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire but also achieving the feat of beating Argentina with Saudi Arabia at the last World Cup, the technician Savoyard ventures into a whole new challenge, he who has never led a women’s team. “We don’t manage a group of girls and a group of boys in the same way. I have four daughters at home, I know how it works,” Hervé Renard joked to the press.
After the 2019 World Cup, organized at home, which had given it a certain momentum, French women’s football is today in the trough of the wave, with in particular its problems of media coverage and very significant level differences between the different teams of the first division championship. Hervé Renard must embody a certain renewal. Mélanie, supporter of Les Bleues who runs the Edfrféminine account on Instagram, appreciates this weight reinforcement on the bench: “I think it can very clearly help women’s football to develop. I know some people have stopped watching the French women’s team under Corinne Deacon. This public can come back, but I also believe that Hervé Renard can bring back people accustomed to men’s football, because it is a name that speaks to everyone. That’s very good news. »
The end of the Corinne Deacon era, even if it has obtained good results, such as a first semi-final of the Euro last summer, must also represent the end of the tensions which have punctuated the Bleues for many years. “Looking at the list, we saw movement. The returns of Eugénie Le Sommer and Wendie Renard are significant, but the new coach has also affirmed his desire to recall Amandine Henry when she returns from injury, underlines Mélanie. We start from scratch, he will make up his own mind and it can even be seen in the number of players selected in his first list: 26. He has expanded his group in order to get to know the girls and their qualities a little better in order to build a good group for the World Cup. Personally, I couldn’t imagine a World Cup without Wendie Renard, it was unthinkable to me. The former Cannes defender also mentioned the cases of Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani. He is counting on the Parisiennes, currently injured and who had cut ties with Corinne Deacon.
