The France team of coach Corinne Deacon will have reached the last four during the Euro in England, a stage which had not been reached for ten years by women. If they did well, despite the disappointment of Germany’s elimination in the semi-finals (1-2) last Wednesday, did the girls manage to make an impression on their male counterparts? Answer with some male actors of Eurelian football…
Arnaud Archimbaud
(player of C’Chartres / National 2):
“The Women’s Euro, I followed it from afar. During the holidays, I cut with football. I followed the results, but I did not watch the matches. Being from Lyon, I follow the performances of OL women, I know a few players. While zapping on my TV, I watched a bit. The semi-final France – Germany, we followed the second period, on the bus, returning from Beauvais (Editor’s note: Chartres played its first preparation match in the Oise, last Wednesday). Otherwise, in the evening, during matches, I took advantage of my terrace. It is true that if it had been the men, I would have followed more. It has not yet become customary to follow women’s football. I also find it very good that the stadiums in England are full. There is nevertheless a small progression in France, and I saw it by doing some interventions in schools. I realized that there were still girls attracted to football, after the sad period that we all experienced. They need to exercise outdoors after the pandemic. As a general rule, women’s football in France will develop only by injecting a little more money into it. But it will take time… There is still too big of a gap between Paris SG, Lyon and the other clubs! »
The Drouaise Léa Le Garrec: “In France we were a step ahead, now we are behind”
Gwenaël Maurice (trainer FC Drouais / N3):
“I followed a bit, especially France. I only missed one Les Bleues game. It’s a little more interesting to follow than a few years ago, there’s more rhythm, the teams are much more prepared, more athletic. Women’s football has progressed, but it still needs to develop more. Too bad the girls stopped in the semi-finals…”
Samy Yahmed (entr. Mainvilliers/R1) :
“I mainly followed the matches of the France team, one end of the other half, England – Sweden. When there is a blue jersey, I look, whether it’s football, handball, basketball or another sport. Even if we get carried away a little less than for the boys, I saw some interesting things in the girls: they are less fake, less roomy, less aggressive, even if they are not all lambs… In a word, there is more respect than among men. In terms of the game, I was thrilled by the first half against Italy (note: first round match won 5-1), after that it was less fluid. »
Nicolas Bauwens (entr. Luisant/R3) :
“I followed the Euro more or less from afar, I mainly looked at the results. I only saw ten minutes of the France – Germany half, that’s all! I have just bought a house, I am doing work and I am also very busy preparing for the season with Luisant. I admit that I would have made more efforts if it had been a men’s Euro… It is perhaps not good to say that. Well, I still saw that they had lost their best player (Katoto), it’s as if we had lost Mbappé. From what I see, France was a step ahead of a lot of nations and today that was erased. »
Jean-André Provost
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