This season Melvine Malard (19) and Sandy Baltimore (20) have shone with their club and made their debut in the national team. This Sunday, they should cross during the shock at the top of the D1 between OL and PSG.
Melvine Malard and Sandy Baltimore have a few things in common. They were born in the same year (2000) and are both attackers. In 2019, they even won the Euro together with the Bleuets in Scotland and were part of the typical team for the competition. But, it is also about two young players with different profiles and different trajectories. However, the Lyonnaise Malard (1m71, 62 kg) and the Parisienne Baltimore (1m56, 62 kg) also represent the future of their respective teams.
Their season: Malard, Baltimore best prospect
Last season, Melvine Malard has agreed to leave his cocoon in Lyon to go and get tough in the Paris region. For a few months, Malard wore the colors of FC Fleury. The experience was cut short because of the Covid, but the time spent really allowed the young striker to progress and evolve. “I rediscovered her when she went to Fleury, Gilles Eyquem, his coach for the France U19 and U20 team, told us. She was playing ! It was something new to her. I felt a more confident player. “
On her return to OL, Jean-Luc Vasseur, her coach at the time, also noticed the change and made her play more regularly. From September, Corinne Deacon, the coach also called on her in the A with whom she played her first match, as a holder, against North Macedonia (7-0). Still irregular, the Reunionese nonetheless shone in the Champions League where she scored 4 goals in six matches, finishing the club’s top scorer in the European Cup.
Sandy Baltimore has burst the screen this season and even the Covid contracted in March has failed to slow it down. At the start of the season, she did not necessarily leave to start in Olivier Échouafni’s team, but she quickly became indispensable. Most often placed on the left side of the attack alongside Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani, she had a high-flying season and amply deserved her trophy as the best hope of the D1.
Statistically, she had a full season with 8 goals and 10 assists in the Championship and like Malard, her performance convinced Corinne Deacon to call her for the first time in the French team. She honored her first selection in December against Kazakhstan (12-0), celebrating it with a goal, then she celebrated her first start in blue with a sublime achievement against England (3-1) in April.
Their profile: Malard the speed, Baltimore the explosiveness
If they have different sizes, Melvine Malard and Sandy Baltimore also have different styles and rather complementary as we could see when they were playing together in the selection. Malard, the right-hander, is tall, athletic with “A profile à la Kadi Diani” according to his coach at FC Fleury, David Fanzel. The Reunionese, who has excellent technique, can move on the axis or on one side. “She is a beautiful athlete, solid in duels with a good head game, describes Gilles Eyquem to us. But she is still young and sometimes lacks vice. She could also be more killer. She is so playful that sometimes she forgets to be efficient. “
Baltimore, the left-hander, takes advantage of a very low center of gravity to make her opponents dizzy with her dribbles. Technically very talented, she is also quite fast. He often placed it on the left side, but Echouafni did not hesitate to sometimes put it on the right so that it gets back on its right foot and takes advantage of its good ball strike. “She is very energetic and technically one of the best in the Championship, believes the coach of PSG. In addition to being a lane player, she is able to put herself on her right foot, which was not the case before. It becomes even more complete. “
What their coaches say
Sonia Bompastor about Melvine Malard: “Melvine is a young hope of the club, when she had been loaned to Fleury, it had done her a lot of good because she had been able to play in D1. She continues to improve since her return. She has a margin of progress in front of the goal. She must have more of a killer spirit. But she is dynamic on the ground and listening. She tries to meet my expectations in terms of travel. It’s good to have him on a team. “
Olivier Echouafni about Sandy Baltimore: “Sandy has gained a lot of confidence, she achieved important milestones and had playing time. She managed to perform, she has incredible talent. She is one of the most technical players in Europe. She is still young and she also managed to go to the France team this year. It is a great pride to see her at this level. “
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