How do you replace a player of international stature like Wendie Renard with a left calf injury? Until the announcement of the roster, and maybe even the end of the warm-up before their second match of the Australian Worlds, against Brazil, Saturday July 29, at 12 p.m. de Paris): we will not know whether or not this puzzle will be submitted to the sagacity of Hervé Renard. “We hope everything will be fine because we need her. Tonight [Friday evening], we are not one hundred percent certain, “said the coach of the France women’s team at a press conference.
Hervé Renard did not need this additional uncertainty after Les Bleues’ disappointing start against Jamaica (0-0) on July 23. Facing the Brazilians, at the top of group F, they have practically no right to lose if they want to keep their future in their hands in the third match, Wednesday August 2, against Panama. Elimination in the first round of a World Cup would be a huge disappointment for French footballers, to whom this has not happened since their first participation in 2003.
Friday, on the average lawn of a small suburban stadium in the capital of Queensland, Wendie Renard began collective training – open to the media during the first fifteen minutes – with her teammates, without it being known whether she has was able to complete it and with what intensity. During the allotted time, the gazes of the journalists closely scrutinized his left calf. “We will only get the answer [Saturday] because training is nothing like a competitive match,” insisted Hervé Renard.
The coach, the players and the French Football Federation (FFF) have done everything to say as little as possible about a possible package from Renard, a monument of world football, who has 147 selections and 34 international goals. On Monday, the tricolor captain’s medical examinations were kept secret. The FFF merely indicated that his case would be “managed on a day-to-day basis”. Tuesday and Wednesday, the great defender had physical contact apart from the group, in particular by pedaling on an exercise bike at the edge of the lawn. Over the days, the tricolor players passing in front of the press have not been more expansive.
Full confidence of Brazilian women
This serialized suspense even impacts the opponent. The Swedish coach of the Brazilians, Pia Sundhage, takes this into account in the preparation of the meeting. “We have a plan if she plays and a plan if she doesn’t play,” said the two-time Olympic champion in 2008 and 2012 on the bench for the Americans. We know she’s a good player. »
If we are to believe Hervé Renard, it is the main interested party who will decide if she is fit to play. “She’s known her body for many years,” he said. She will make the decision. Before recalling her importance: “She is a player who unites everyone through her experience and her charisma. We need players with these references to go as far as possible in a competition. »
Without departing from his big smile and seemingly unshakable confidence, Hervé Renard also tried to put questions related to his captain’s injury to the background. “We had a week where the most important thing was not the worry about Wendie but the draw against Jamaica,” he said. A first round is three games. Sometimes, we start a competition superbly, then we finish it less well and vice versa. And to recall the message he has delivered most often since his induction: “The coach should never be worried, he must have confidence in his team. »
Opposite, the Brazilians display full confidence. Easy winners of the weak Panamanians (4-0), they present themselves in an ideal position with the advantage of having nothing to lose against France. With their new scorer Ary Borges, author of a hat-trick at the start, and Marta, the best player in the history of the discipline, still very important even if she is now a substitute, the South Americans are impressive. In April at Wembley, they pushed the English to the penalty shootout during the Finalissima, a match between the European champions and the South American champions.
In May, Hervé Renard told Le Monde that he had found his future opponent in the very successful World Cup on this occasion. He expressed his admiration again at a press conference on Friday: “Brazil is a huge football country. It is a confrontation that has a particular resonance. It is a team, with high-level individuals, which has made enormous progress in recent years and which has a coach (…) who knows how to make his teams win. »
“This game is a high level test”
In eleven meetings between the two nations, the French team has never lost: five wins and six draws. Since an inaugural draw at the 2003 World Cup (1-1), French and Brazilian women have faced each other ten times in ten years, with a current series of four tricolor victories. At the 2019 World Cup, Les Bleues qualified for the quarter-finals by dominating Brazil 2-1 after extra time in a closely contested match.
A record that does not scare Pia Sundhage. “With France, there is a history. The more you play them, the closer you get to a win. It’s a question of time. We have a chance. I believe the time has come. »
Trust against trust, the balance of power is installed. In order not to be disillusioned, the Blues will have to show a completely different face than that displayed in Sydney on July 23. “When we play on our qualities, we don’t have to worry. You have to be natural, play this game fully, ”said defender Sakina Karchaoui.
“Tomorrow’s game is a high-level test. It is an important match for first place in the group and for qualification, warned the coach. But it is no more important than the third against Panama. The objective is to qualify for the round of 16 and, from there, another competition begins. “And to qualify, a defeat against Brazil would be almost crippling, which gives this France-Brazil a very special flavor.
