“There would be a lot of things to say…” Asked about her feelings about the classification of the Women’s Golden Ball, unveiled the day before in Paris, Sonia Bompastor did not hide her annoyance, this Tuesday at a press conference. Before starting a new Champions League campaign on Wednesday (9 p.m.) against Arsenal, the Lyon coach legitimately regretted not seeing any of his players in the first six in a vote still won by the Spanish Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona), yet beaten (1-3) in the European Cup final by OL and forfeited from the Euros due to a serious knee injury.
“Of course it calls out because I am entitled to believe that I have several players in my squad who could claim to be at least in the top 5 of this Ballon d’Or,” says Sonia Bompastor. It’s obviously a big disappointment because I know how hard they work and give themselves the means to perform. It is very surprising and it raises questions. »
No “lobbying” around a single player at OL
The same goes for Lyon captain and Les Bleues Wendie Renard, semi-finalist at the Euro in addition to the C1-French championship double with OL: “There is inevitably misunderstanding knowing that we won the Champions League and we had a very good season. But we do not decide the votes, I personally suffer this kind of thing, like my teammates. Remember that the five Lyonnaises in the running finished in very close places of honor, from 7th (Ada Hegerberg) to 14th (Selma Bacha).
A density of successful players that pushes Sonia Bompastor to reflect: “When you see how other clubs operate, in other countries, they select a player, they put her in the spotlight, and they do real lobbying around her. her, with the media and the whole country. I think it makes the difference because what certainly penalizes us is having a lot of good players, and therefore split votes. To meditate (or not)?