The French women’s team got the better of Jamaica this Friday, in a friendly, at the Bonal stadium in Sochaux.
The French team, now led by Laurent Bonadei, moved forward on Friday by outclassing Jamaica in a friendly match (3-0) thanks to an offensive festival, more than two months after its elimination in the quarter-finals of the Olympics .
With a new tactical scheme in 3-4-3 and despite the withdrawal of many executives (Katoto, Karchaoui, Bacha, Mbock, De Almeida), Laurent Bonadei, in a black suit and standing throughout the match in his technical zone, put the Bleues back on track, exiting through the back door of the competition they dreamed of winning at home.
Disappointing in the game this summer, they showed more at the Auguste-Bonal stadium in Montbéliard on Friday evening in front of 11,200 spectators, confiscating the ball from the Jamaicans and camping in front of the Reggae Girlz surface, deprived of their star Khadija Shaw. The offensive animation, the workhorse of the coach until then faithful assistant to Hervé Renard, visibly close to Saudi Arabia, was attractive thanks to the pistons Sandy Baltimore and Delphine Cascarino and the midfielder Kenza Dali, sharp and mobile.
Mateo’s winning return, Le Sommer affected
Not called up by Hervé Renard since last December and for the Games, Paris FC striker Clara Mateo was aligned on the right side. And quite a symbol, she scored the first goal under the Bonadei era, taking advantage of a defender’s error to open the scoring (1-0, 22nd). Very available and restless, she tried throughout the first period without being precise enough to score her sixth goal with the Blues (13th, 26th, 33rd, 37th), before being more discreet in the second half.
Sandy Baltimore, as often against teams of this level, shone on his left side by scoring on a great sequence, control-volley (3-0, 48th).
Apart from a Jamaican counterattack (9th), the Blues, now down to 10th in Fifa, outclassed their opponents (42nd in Fifa) and were never put in danger. Three new players were even able to enjoy their first minutes in the tricolor jersey (Le Mouël, Gago, Caputo). They also kept their good habits and scored from a set piece. Captain Wendie Renard made her special on a corner from Kenza Dali by judiciously crossing her head (2-0, 39th). For her first in goal as the new N.1 and with a new defensive line in front of her (Renard, Cascarino, Samoura), Constance Picaud hardly needed to work, before facing Switzerland ( 25th) Tuesday evening in Geneva.
The only bad news is the injury exit of Eugénie Le Sommer at the very end of the match. Returning at the hour mark, she seemed to be the victim of discomfort again after a race, even though she had suffered a series of physical problems for several months.