Megan Rapinoe opened the scoring from the penalty spot – David Vincent / AP / SIPA
Meanwhile, in Vera Cruz … finally in Le Havre, the French women’s team lost Tuesday night against the United States (0-2). The world champions have thus put an end to a series of invincibility of the Blue dating from 2019 and a defeat already inflicted by the Americans in the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
As in the cursed quarter of the World Cup, where Rapinoe had taken five minutes to deceive the French rearguard, the 2019 Ballon d’Or did it again within the same timeframe, on a perfectly executed penalty in front of Pauline Peyraud-Magnin (5th, 1-0).
At 35, the American icon stood out throughout the meeting. On the evening of her 175th selection, the OL Reign player scored her seventh goal in seven international games played in 2021, the fourth in four games in a row (personal best). Credited with a double against the French at the World Cup, she distinguished herself on Wednesday with an offside goal after a delicious control (12th), a deviation in front of Marion Torrent (38th) and a strike (48th) stopped by the goalkeeper French.
“A logical victory” for Le Sommer
Peyraud-Magnin remained on only one goal conceded in nine games, Friday from the penalty spot in the victory against England (3-1). On Wednesday, the Atlético Madrid goalkeeper went twice to get the ball in her nets, also beaten on a shot from near Alex Morgan (19th, 2-0). In less than 20 minutes, the match was over.
“It’s a logical victory. We know their level, they were there to win, we made this game easy for them by conceding these two goals quickly, regrets Eugenie Le Sommer. Experience plays out in these matches but I don’t know what would have happened with more experienced players. We must continue to work, see this match as an exercise and we will have to do better when it is decisive. “