Defender Selma Bacha, victim of a sprain against Australia a week before the World Cup, recovered at high speed from her injury in view of the clash against Brazil on Saturday (12:00 p.m.) in Brisbane. A relief for the Blues, who will need their “bomb”.
The outing on a stretcher in Melbourne on July 14 for the last preparation match for Les Bleues against the “Matildas” (1-0 defeat) and the tears of the defender, however, foreshadowed the worst. “When you know Selma well, you know that she has a joy of living, a participation in the effort, in the preparation and therefore in the care which is really intense”, told in an interview with AFP at Sydney Jean-Michel Aulas, who has known the young 22-year-old Lyonnaise since her debut, having had her under his wing as president of OL. “I had had her on the phone the evening of her injury from the hospital, everyone was worried, but she was already in the idea of resuming as soon as possible”, he continued.
Like him, several relatives of the Blue praised the mental and physical abilities of the side to come back so quickly. “She did everything she was asked to do, and more. He is someone who, despite his youth and enthusiasm, is professional. And in a group, it’s happiness because she’s always positive. And when the psychic is at the top, the body recovers faster. It’s a bomb, “said Jean-Michel Aulas, in charge of women’s football at the Federation (FFF).
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From the first days after her sprain, the signals were quickly positive: the native of Lyon resumed running around the pitch fairly quickly and returned to collective training on Monday at Valentine Sports Park, the headquarters of Les Bleues in Sydney alongside the substitutes for the match against Jamaica (0-0). All smiles, very comfortable and without discomfort to his left ankle. Already twirling and energetic, she had scored several goals during an opposition. The day before, she already wanted to return to the lawn of the Sydney Football Stadium to help her teammates, but the staff preferred to preserve her, her “pep” and her passion, according to a source close to the Blues.
“Our doctor is a magician,” smiled coach Hervé Renard during a session open to journalists a few days before. “We were very scared. I won’t hide it from you. So we are really very happy that she has regained her smile, that she has regained her form, ”he said last Friday at a press conference. Logically, the Lyonnaise quickly took her place in the group of holders during the sessions, suggesting her presence in the starting lineup against the Seleçao. In the context of the carnage of injuries experienced by France, it’s a little breather…
Especially since Selma Bacha has become indispensable to Les Bleues: since the induction of Renard in the spring, the Lyonnaise has been established three times out of four and her presence in the standard team at the World Cup was beyond doubt. The coach thus entrusted her with the left flank of the attack or the middle, she who usually evolves more to a position of left side defender. She was even launched as a relay midfielder at the end of the match against Ireland (3-0) in early July, an unexpected choice.
The one who is known for not counting her efforts and for her precise centers on the left side can only do good to an attack at half mast, for two matches. The worst statistic of the Bleues in attack since 2017. “I am someone who does not let go, if I have to play 60 minutes and I have to leave my heart, my whole body on the ground, I will leave them”, confided to the ‘AFP Selma Bacha at the beginning of July, adding, still with her mischievous smile, another strong point: “my quality as a center, my left foot to make small decisive passes to my teammates”. What the Blues hope for on Saturday against the Seleçao.
