Martin Lange, edited by Loane Nader
This Tuesday evening, the Blue team will face the Canadian team in a friendly match. The new coach Hervé Renard will once again be able to test his method, effective against Colombia with a 5-2 victory for the French. But are the Canadians a worthy opponent this time around?
Les Bleues are preparing for a test clash with the Canadian team on Tuesday. Indeed, if the victory was won easily against Colombia last Friday (5-2), the women’s football team comes up against a strong opponent on Tuesday evening. For what ? Simply, because the Canadians hold the title of Olympic champions with sixth place in the FIFA rankings, just behind the Blues.
If the Canada team is expected to be the next World Cup in three months, Hervé Renard, the new coach, sees it as an excellent test to assess his players: “It’s a rigorous, well-organized team. You have to expect a high-level opposition. But since we are also a high-level team, it will be a good match, “he says. “So it’s up to us to negotiate these kinds of matches well, which are a kind of rehearsal before the big ones, which are going to take place at the World Cup.”
The Canadian team in conflict with its federation
The North Americans, in full conflict with their federation, are however preparing for the championship in a tense context. During their last rally, the players organized a strike, not for the departure of their coach Bev Priestman but to denounce the budget cuts and demand equal pay. A fight that the Blues followed closely, like Eugénie Le Sommer.
“It’s still a team that is Olympic champion, so to see that it is in conflict, it is damaging for women’s football and I think that on these subjects, we are quite united”, he said. she confided. This Tuesday evening, the match will take place at the Marie Marie-Marvingt stadium in Le Mans, the first stadium with more than 20,000 seats, to bear a feminine name, quite a symbol.