With a new tactical scheme in 3-4-3 and despite the withdrawal of many executives (Katoto, Karchaoui, Bacha, Mbock, De Almeida), Laurent Bonadei, put the Blues back on the right track, exiting through the back door of the competition that they dreamed of winning at home: the Games.
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, by confiscating the ball from the Jamaicans. The offensive animation, the workhorse of the coach until then faithful assistant to Hervé Renard, was attractive thanks to the pistons Sandy Baltimore and Delphine Cascarino and the midfielder Kenza Dali, sharp and mobile.
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.
Sommer gets injured
Sandy Baltimore, as often against teams of this level, shone on his left side by scoring on a great sequence, controlled 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.
