Despite the call for mobilization launched by Hervé Renard, the Groupama Stadium will be at a low point for the France-Germany clash. An incomprehensible situation for Amandine Henry.
The poster looks great though. Qualified for the Final Four of the first Nations League, the France team has an appointment with Germany for the first semi-final. A meeting that the Bleues will have the chance to play at Groupama Stadium. The Lyon players will be on familiar ground and are surely imagining a great mobilization among the supporters.
However, two days before the match, only 25,000 seats had been sold. The Lyon venue, which can accommodate nearly 60,000 spectators, therefore risks feeling hollow. A situation that Amandine Henry deplored in the columns of Le Parisien. “There is still work to be done. It is hopeless. What more needs to be done? We, the players, give our all. It’s a beautiful poster, it’s a beautiful stadium, a beautiful city…”, lamented the former Lyon player.
What can be done to fill stadiums?
And the incomprehension is all the greater as neighboring selections do not encounter these problems. “We ask ourselves the question: what can we do to fill stadiums? When we see other countries, it works,” she whispered. Last Saturday, a record was even broken in England where 60,000 spectators gathered in the stands of the Emirates Stadium to watch the clash between Arsenal and Manchester United.
The French Football Federation had, however, made an effort by offering tickets for 10 euros. And Hervé Renard had made a call for mobilization. “ It’s the perfect place to play a semi-final in a fantastic stadium”confided the French coach at a press conference, adding: “We need the support of the public, it’s importantt. As a Rhône-Alpes native by birth, I can only congratulate myself on playing here. I was born 100 km from here, in Aix-les-Bains. I appeal to the Savoyards to come and watch the match too.»