With her double for her third tenure, the young defender of Montpellier Maëlle Lakrar, 23, scored points at the right side position, surely to the detriment of the usual holder Eve Perisset. “Crispy” at the start of the meeting like her teammates, she freed herself at the end of the first period. She managed one of the first breakthroughs in the opponent’s area, before adjusting the goalkeeper. For her double, forgotten by the Irish defense, the Montpellier headed a ball, well served by Kenza Dali on a corner. “We have to be solid in the aerial game, it’s an area where we have to be more solid if we want to hope for something. Maëlle brings her size and her very good heading game so these are parameters to take into account, ”commented coach Hervé Renard.
Saturday, day of departure for Australia, the Blues are likely to leave behind Amandine Henry, affected in a calf and who did not play Thursday in Dublin. Back after two and a half years of absence, the 33-year-old Frenchwoman, who appeared on Thursday with her face closed, must take exams in France on Friday, but the dream of a third World Cup, after 2015 and 2019, seems to be on the way. pass out.
“It’s going to be difficult now, we’re going to say it was the worst time for it to happen. It’s fate, there will be the MRI tomorrow (Friday) but normally we know what to expect, it will be unavailable, it will have to be replaced. We will keep the group intact, ”said Hervé Renard after the match, who seems to be leaning towards a recall of the reservist, Aïssatou Tounkara. The coach had decided to dismiss the former Manchester United defender from the group of 23 on Tuesday, but she still made the trip to Dublin. The midfielder of Les Bleues, in difficulty against the Irish, will also have to do without the Parisian Oriane Jean-François, who withdrew for a discomfort in the adductors.
Striker and winger Kadidiatou Diani, out of contract with PSG and who has still not formalized her future club, was making a comeback after three months of absence. Injured in the right collarbone, the one who was operated on in stride played an hour on Thursday. She was not afraid to make contact, had some good ideas but lacked rhythm. Normally twirling on her right side, she made few runs and calls. “Gradually, we are making good progress with Elisa (De Almeida), who played 30 minutes, it was planned like that, Kadi (Diani) an hour, Eugénie (Le Sommer) a little more. We are progressing slowly, it is good even if it has not been easy, we are going to turn to the trip, ”summed up Hervé Renard.
After a final day in Paris on Friday, Les Bleues will take off on Saturday mid-day for Melbourne, where they will arrive on Sunday evening. From Monday afternoon (in Australian time), they will do their first training session at Edwin Flack Park, before playing their last friendly match next Friday. On July 14 (7:30 p.m. Australian, 11:30 a.m. in France), they will face Australia, co-organizer of the World Cup with New Zealand. The next day, they will leave for Sydney and settle in their base camp at Grand Mercure the Hills Lodge in Castle Hill.
