Harvest time. Vice-champion in the last five editions, the French women’s team approaches the Eurobasket, from Thursday in Ljubljana, with the obsession of climbing to the top step, an objective which had motivated a change of coach there. a year and a half.
“I was called for that, it is the will of the staff, the players and the federation. So we are not going to say that we are coming to finish 3rd, 4th or 5th”, assures AFP Jean-Aimé Toupane, who replaced in the fall of 2021 at the head of the Bleues Valérie Garnier, yet just medalist of Olympic bronze. But she had systematically stumbled on the last European march during her eight years in office. A pedigree that prompted the Federation to replace her, for this competition and the 2024 Olympics, with Toupane, coach of the under-20s who had never coached a women’s team before.
The moment of truth has therefore arrived for the federation and the coach, for whom any other result than a third title of European champion (after 2001 and 2009) “would be a failure”. “I will not be afraid to assume the consequences behind it: if tomorrow I have to leave, I will leave,” he said on May 25 after the announcement of the enlarged group selected. Precisely in the name of the supreme objective, which requires finding automation in a reduced preparation time, Toupane deprived himself of the X factor Marine Johannès, who wanted to jump on the bandwagon after a round trip to New York to satisfy to its contractual obligations in the WNBA. Also missing is Gabby Williams, best player and scorer for Les Bleues at the 2022 World Cup but suffered a concussion in mid-May with Asvel.
On the other hand, the management can count on the return of two executives absent from this World Cup in Australia: the interior Sandrine Gruda, best scorer in the history of the selection and then injured, and the winger Valériane Vukosavljevic, who had refused to make the trip because she cannot take her nine-month-old daughter. Despite these two absences, that of Johannès (injured 48 hours before the first match) and an Iliana Rupert short of legs and of automatisms, the Blues had left with their heads held high from Australia, beaten in the quarter-finals by China, future finalist (85-71).
“We started well with this new staff and this new team, we want to continue our momentum and be even more efficient than at the World Cup”, insists Marine Fauthoux, who took up the position of leader during this Global. “We have a double objective: to prepare for the Games and to win the gold medal,” said Sarah Michel. The captain and Les Bleues, who have won their five warm-up matches, have until a possible coronation a piano course in a less dense competition than the World Cup: first matches against Germany (Thursday 8:45 p.m.) then the Great Britain ahead of their likely Group C ‘final’ against Slovenia, who are not among the favorites but will play at home.
Finishing in first place would send Les Bleues directly to the quarter-finals – while the second and third in each group face off in a play-off – and a more affordable opponent at this stage, who will also have traveled from Israel where the match is played. another group stage of the Euro. Before the start of serious things in the last four and a possible reunion with Belgium. It will then be high time to think, if necessary, of erasing ten years of final disillusionment.
