The Best FIFA Football Awards™
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- Wendie Renard is nominated for The Best – FIFA World Player of the Year 2020 award
- Last year she was a member of the first FIFA / FIFPro World11 women
- She won that again in 2020 Triple from championship, cup and UEFA Champions League
Fourteen-time French champion, nine-time French cup winner and seven-time UEFA Women’s Champions League title holder. Hardly any other player in the world can boast as many trophies as Wendie Renard. The longtime Olympique Lyon captain is the leader of a team that is once again making history in women’s football. With the French series champion, she has won everything there is to be won. There is only one individual trophy missing from her impressive collection of titles: the award for The Best – FIFA World Player.
Once again, the exceptional player, born in Martinique, hopes to add herself to a list of winners and add another chapter to her personal history and the history of the club to which she has always remained loyal. FIFA.com met for an interview with the French international (122 appearances, 25 goals).
Wendie, you have been nominated for The Best – FIFA World Player of the Year 2020. How does it feel to be in the race for an individual award after winning so many team trophies?
It is always an honor to be nominated for such an award. In this case, I am not Lyon’s only actor. That shows that we played an outstanding season as a collective. Of course, there are always ups and downs in the course of the season, but in the end the goal is to achieve as many successes as possible. This title, even if it is an individual award, would be a special reward, a welcome extra. Just being nominated is an honor. Everything else will show the near future.
For years, Olympique Lyon has dominated European women’s football almost at will. Even so, no player in your club has ever received this award. What do you think are the reasons for this?
That’s right, in recent years one or the other player from Lyon might have deserved to be honored with this award. That didn’t happen. We just have to keep working and win titles together. The reward for our efforts – as a team as well as for individuals – will come if we continue to strive for the best possible together. In my opinion, there is nothing better than winning a title together. Shared happiness is double happiness!
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May 26, 2011 ↔️ August 30, 2020.
Different years. Same feeling.
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— Wendie Renard (@WRenard) August 31, 2020
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Olympique Lyon have won almost everything there is to be won over the past ten years. Even if the club kept attracting attention with transfers, some players seem to belong to the indispensable club inventory – like you, for example. How did you experience all the successes?
The story began in 2004 when President Jean-Michel Aulas decided to invest and take over the women’s division of FC Lyon. Year after year, all the players who played for the club have made Olympique what it is today. For me personally, this brand is a sign of trust. Of course, I also know that I have to work hard to stay at this level. Olympique Lyon is an extraordinary club with a president who makes a lot possible, but who also expects us to win titles. We have no right to rest on past laurels. I am a very demanding person. I strive to stay at a top level and achieve absolute top performance.
You have been the team captain for several years. How do you manage to pass this winning mentality on to young players and newcomers?
That goes through everyday life, the work in training, the whole behavior … When you come to a club, you know roughly what you are getting into. With us it is the case that every new player who comes to OL feels the desire to write her own story in the club. For my part, for example, I am convinced that at some point in life it will take revenge if you play wrong. So there are no easy encounters for me. It is up to us whether it will be easy on the pitch or not. You have to guide and support young players and you have to make sure that they get the right feel for their work. They should recognize that nothing in life just falls from the sky, but that hard work pays off and that at some point you will reap the reward for your efforts – even if not always immediately. You have to be rigorous and uncompromising. After all, we don’t play the lottery in the sense of “I win today, I lose tomorrow”. You simply cannot afford to give your all today and slide a quiet ball tomorrow.
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You are a regular goal scorer, including this week against Juventus Turin. That’s a little unusual for a defender. How do you do that?
I am very humble. I know my qualities, especially with free kicks and corners. At the beginning of my career I got my height (1.87 meters, Red.) seen as something negative that I found difficult to accept. Over the years, working with various coaches, I’ve learned that my size can be an asset to me. Now I know that I can make a decisive contribution to the team’s success with dormant balls. The understanding with the shooter in standard situations also plays a role. If I start at the right moment, it will be extremely dangerous for the opponents.
It is rare for a defensive player to receive an individual award. Would that be a good sign?
In recent years, mostly offensive players have won the trophy. I don’t want to say that the defenders have been forgotten, but it is often the case that the final pass, the beautiful shot or the dream goal are rewarded. But there is other work being done on the square that deserves to be in the limelight. Take Virgil Van Dijk last year, for example. He played an extraordinary season, but with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi he had two absolute superstars ahead of him. Far be it from me now to demand: “Choose me, choose a defender”. My job is to perform well. Everything else is out of my hands. If the choice fell on me in the end, I would of course be overjoyed.
The decision will be made on December 17th
The winners in all categories, including the FIFA Fan Award and the FIFA Fair Play Award, will be announced in a TV show on December 17, 2020 from 7:00 p.m. CET.
You can find all the news about “The Best FIFA Football Awards ™” on _FIFA.com, the official Facebook page**to The Best FIFA Football Awards ™ and the** _FIFA channel on YouTube.
Who do you think should win this year? Discuss with under the _Hashtag #TheBest.
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