“The hardest decision of my career”: by leaving the Blue, Wendie Renard wanted to preserve her “sanity”

At 32, Wendie Renard knocked out an entire team. The Martiniquaise and captain of the French football team announced her departure from Les Bleues as well as wanting to “take a step back” from the national team and not wanting to participate in the World Cup (July 20-August 20 in Australia and in New Zealand) under current conditions. Reached by phone in Europe 1 Sportsthe latter explained that she had made “the hardest decision” of her career.

“It’s a decision that was running through my head. It had already been taken for many months,” justified the right defender. A decision that led to other departures since the two attackers of the French women’s team and Paris Saint-Germain Kadidiatou Diani and Marie-Antoinette Katoto also decided to withdraw from Les Bleues.

“A personal observation”

These withdrawals follow disagreements between some players and the coach of the Blue Corinne Deacon. Unlucky semi-finalists at the Euro last summer, the French have lived through several mixed months since the start of the season, with in particular two significant defeats in October in Germany (2-1) and Sweden (3-0), two competing for the planetary title.

Renard evokes a complex relationship with the coach Corinne Deacon, who had removed the captain’s armband from the Martiniquaise on her arrival in 2017, before returning it to her in September 2021. Another point of contention, the management carried out in the France team. “It’s a personal observation. There may be people who don’t understand me. But today, from my experience, to get a title that is on another level than that of with my club, the course must go up more”, she noted in Europe 1 Sport.

Deacon had also dismissed for a long time former emblematic players partners of Renard in Lyon, such as Eugénie Le Sommer and Amandine Henry.

A final decision?

It remains to be seen whether this decision will be final for the OL defender. “It’s a personal action because I’m a competitor, I like this jersey, and it’s because I like it that I took this kind of initiative and decision. I would have very well been able to continue like this and cry more”, said with emotion Wendie Renard at the microphone of Lucas Courtin.

“But I don’t want to cry on a personal level anymore and hurt my body before the big deadlines. Today, mental health is important to consider, to respect it and to take care of it because it is often the head that guides the body. If the top does not fit, I will have repercussions on my body. So I prefer to simply stop”, noted the most capped player in the history of the French women’s team. .

This announcement comes in a context of crisis at the French Football Federation. A crucial meeting is scheduled for Tuesday to find out whether President Noël Le Graët retains his post. Several leaders and players in French football are in the hot seat. A resignation of Le Graët could further weaken Corinne Deacon in her position as coach.