After a long preparation, the Bleues finally set foot on English soil, Tuesday five days before their entry into the running at the Euro, and took up residence in Ashby-de-la-Zouch in a comfortable base camp with red bricks and in the green environment, in the middle of the fields.
“It’s a” mix-feeling “between great excitement and calm”, summarizes the midfielder Kenza Dali once in England. “The competition for some starts tomorrow (Wednesday), we will take the time to settle in, get our bearings and by Sunday we will be ready. »
While waiting to face Italy on Sunday (9:00 p.m.) in Rotherham, Les Bleues have put down their suitcases an hour’s drive further south, at Champneys Springs in Ashby-de-la-Zouch (central England), a quiet and cozy resort in the Leicestershire countryside.
“It’s our Clairefontaine in England! “laughs Eve Perisset, the future right side of Chelsea, in reference to the historic training center of the France team, in the Yvelines, which the Blue left after three and a half weeks of preparation.
The entrance to the establishment sets the scene: a narrow road crosses a field of cereals up to a modern country house with “so British” red bricks, decorated with a swimming pool with large windows.
” A maze “
A stone’s throw from the spa that makes the reputation of the place, is the training ground dedicated to Les Bleues, inside the vast park that surrounds the hotel.
“We see the quality of the pitch, it’s really incredible,” savors Perisset. “It’s English quality, the grounds are always good,” smiles Dali, former West Ham now at Everton, after Tuesday’s training.
For the first session in England, Corinne Deacon had a full group since Wendie Renard, Grace Geyoro and Sakina Karchaoui, all injured during the preparation, returned to the collective.
The first afternoon in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, between Birmingham and Nottingham, allowed the French women to visit all the facilities available (meeting spaces, weights room, spa, etc.), without yet having all the landmarks.
“It’s big, it’s a bit maze!” We get lost quickly but we are good, ”smiled the young Parisian Sandy Baltimore.
The accommodation part, which has “nearly 90 rooms”, according to the FFF, will not be accessible to external customers, who will however be able to take advantage of the care center and the restaurant, especially during the day.
Not the first choice
Champneys Springs, in the heart of the National Forest, was not the management’s first choice. He had set his sights on another base camp, also offered in the UEFA catalogue, but he had to give it up for a surprising reason.
“At one point, we had chosen one that was top. Except that we learn that during two-thirds of the time we would be there on internship, there would be weddings. It’s just not possible”, explained Corinne Deacon in May, underlining the “possibilities for oxygenating” in Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
Apart from training, the atmosphere will be conducive to relaxation with possible walks in the large park, around the lake, the possibility of resting in the individual rooms, all equipped with a balcony or a small terrace, and moments of conviviality between players.
The preparation course was thus animated by frenzied board game parties, according to Selma Bacha.
“We play “Werewolves” all the time (from Thiercelieux, editor’s note). During the night, the werewolves rise and they have to kill other villagers. At the end, you have to find out who the wolves are. But there are too many cheaters! “, said in preparation the young Lyonnaise, denouncing in a great burst of laughter Hawa Cissoko and Kenza Dali.
For Les Bleues, serious things will begin on Sunday against Italy in Rotherham. They will play the entire first round at New York Stadium, a stadium with less than 12,000 seats, or even the quarter-final if they finish at the top of their group D.