For the native of Lyon, the road to Brisbane and the quarter-final against Australia on Saturday (9 a.m.) has been strewn with pitfalls and disappointments.
We had to take our troubles patiently, criss-cross France or neighboring countries and even “start from scratch”, she assumes, until a transfer to Juventus Turin in 2021, for a first experience as an indisputable holder in a big club. “I was a bit challenged all the time. I had to constantly prove myself. After a while, you want to have that place, to tell yourself that it can come back to us by right, that we deserve it because we worked fifteen years behind, “says the goalkeeper of ‘1.75m.
Lyon, Issy, Saint-Étienne, Marseille, Arsenal, Atlético de Madrid… For almost ten years, Pauline Peyraud-Magnin sought openness and recognition, barred by competition. That of Sarah Bouhaddi, historic porter of the Bleues and OL, even deprived her of a dream blossoming in her hometown, at the same time as it reduced her to the rank of understudy with the Bleues.
” Getting the head out of the water “
“I’m not going to lie by saying that every day was super beautiful. There are many days when we doubt, especially since in high-level sport, you are often all alone, ”admits the goalkeeper, very comfortable when retracing her career. “In times like these, it’s difficult to get your head out of the water to be able to breathe. »
But Pauline Peyraud-Magnin refuses to use the word “regret” in relation to her period in Lyon, ten years marked until 2018 by three successive loans in France, in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Saint-Étienne then Marseille .
“It builds character. Sitting on the bench, seeing that it’s not you who plays, it forged me mentally. I always said to myself “Don’t stay where people don’t want you anymore, where you don’t evolve anymore”. I started from scratch at Issy-les-Moulineaux and it was the best decision of my career, ”says the No. 16 of the France team.
This moment is pivotal in the career of the goalkeeper, who joined the Paris region at the age of 22, in 2014. “We had to rebuild everything. You have to imagine that for nine years, I was in a club where we give everything to the girls so that they succeed. And there, I joined the rest of the world, ”she says.
Confidence building
The click will not happen until about six years later, when the place of n°1 with the Blues finally comes free.
“It gave me enough confidence to take it up again in the club afterwards, to build a crescendo”, says the one who will sign in stride at Atlético de Madrid (2020 – 2021) then at Juventus.
“She has saved playing time, especially at Juventus. Pauline is three Champions League clubs, England, Spain and Italy, it’s already a great career in important clubs. This experience allows him to approach the matches more easily, explains Gilles Fouache, the coach of the goalkeepers of the Blue. Pauline is a football and job lover. »
The coach has forged a very close relationship over the years with his door, who has gone through difficult times in the club but also in the personal life of the one who experienced personal mourning just before Euro 2022. “Something that we try to put behind us but that we talk about if we need to talk about it. »
Still little in demand during this World Cup despite some scares on the ball, Pauline Peyraud-Magnin risks having more hot moments to manage against the host country. This admirer of Michael Jordan and “Mr. Walt Disney”, the director “started from nothing to achieve great things”, hopes to experience the same fate in Australia with the Blues.
2023-08-11 17:11:26
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