August 14 – Yet again France fell at the last-eight stage of the Women’s World Cup, but France coach Hervé Renard expressed his pride following Les Bleues’ elimination by millimetres after 20 spot kicks in a match of great drama against co-hosts Australia.
In a nail-biting encounter in Brisbane, the French were the better team over the course of 120 minutes, but that counted for little in a penalty shootout with twists, turns and three defining saves by Australian goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold before Cortnee Vine delivered the winner with a mundane finality to send Australian fans into a frenzy.
“It’s very difficult to fight against these things but unfortunately we weren’t able to quite clinch that win,” Renard said.
“I’ve got nothing to criticise. Everyone worked exceptionally hard. We have no regrets.
“If we won this evening, I would be king of the world, but this evening I’m nothing because we lost by some millimetres. This is football but it’s also why we love football, because I think all the people watching this game were enjoying (it).
“I think it was a fantastic image of women’s football.”
Renard gambled to bring on goalkeeper Solene Durand for Pauline Peyraud-Magnin for the penalty shootout, but it was not enough to win.
The French had got off to a slow start in the tournament with a draw against Jamaica before defeating Brazil, Panama and Morocco en route to the last eight. Four years ago, the French crashed out on home soil against eventual champions the United States in the quarter-finals as well.
Renard, who took over the French women’s team following his role as manager of Saudi Arabia, restored calm in the side and said his charges would come back stronger from the defeat, with Paris hosting the 2024 Olympic Games.
The French want to claim the gold medal on home soil in what may represent Wendie Renard’s last chance at a major prize with her national team.
“We’re going to continue to progress and we’re going to keep this mindset and everything will be fine,” said Renard.
“We’re just going to continue this year 2023, get off to a good start for 2024 with the Nations League and then we’ll be preparing for the Olympic Games. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to recover some of the players that maybe we were missing from the squad this time around. That’s once again part and parcel of football. This will allow us to become even stronger.”
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