The demons of 2015 have resurfaced. The France team was eliminated from the World Cup by Australia on penalties after a stifling quarter-final (0-0, 7 tab to 6), Saturday morning in Brisbane. The two stops by Solène Durand, the substitute goalkeeper launched by Hervé Renard at the end of extra time, did not weigh very heavily against the failures of Salma Bacha, Eve Perisset, Kenza Dali and Vicki Becho.
It’s starting to become a bad habit. For the third time in a row, Les Bleues came out at the gates of the last four of the World Cup. They did not find the solution in 120 minutes against Australia, co-host country of the World Cup, which offered the first semi-final in its history. It was at the end of the first period that Hervé Renard’s players lost the thread of a meeting that had started with a bang. The good start of the French was materialized by the cross shot of Kadidiatou Diani (8th), followed by the parades of Mackenzie Arnold against Eugénie Le Sommer (28th) and at close range in front of Maëlle Lakrar (32nd).
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Peyraud-Magnin alternated feverishness and solidity
The Australians needed half an hour to counter the opponent’s short raises and take the game on their own. The Matildas struck before the break, Mary Fowler forcing Elisa De Almeida to donate her body to science after a misunderstanding in the area between Pauline Peyraud-Magnin and her side Sakina Karchaoui (41st). The excitement of the Juventus Turin goalkeeper was betrayed by failed clearances, including one that could have allowed Mary Fowler to open the scoring in the 50th minute. The same Fowler who had previously restored Peyraud-Magnin’s confidence by losing his face-to-face in the area (44th).
Substitute at kick-off, Sam Kerr had put on her clothes of light when she appeared at the edge of the field under the ovation of Brisbane Stadium. Reduced by a calf injury, the icon of the country, armband on his arm, did not have his usual radiance, but he breathed the right state of mind into his partners. From her first ball, she sent Hayley Raso to warm up the gloves of Peyraud-Magnin (56th), who then worked against Fowler (60th) in a second act entirely dominated by Australia.
We then no longer gave much of the skin of the French, valiant but vacillating, and yet it was the Blues who shook the nets for the first and last time in extra time. Alanna Kennedy’s own goal was however canceled for a jersey draw by Wendie Renard (100th), and Eugénie Le Sommer’s final attempt resulted in a parade by Mackenzie Arnold (120th).
Eugenie Le Sommer in the fight during Australia – France
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Cruel outcome
The only pawn advanced by Hervé Renard before extra time, the entry of Vicki Becho energized the Habs. Through her percussion, the young Lyonnaise repeatedly threatened the Aussie goal (107′, 109′) and it was cruel to see her fail in the unbreathable exercise of shooting on goal.
Eve Perisset, specialist in the event, also missed her attempt, when she appeared on the lawn in extra time of extra time … alongside Solène Durand. Penalty specialist, the Sassuolo goalkeeper was sent to the fire by Renard, Louis van Gaal style 2014, and, with two saves, she can not blame herself for her third match in selection.
The course of the Bleues, led for the first time in official competition by Renard, ends in the quarters, cruelly, in pain as in 2015 and 2019, a month after losing in a friendly against Australia (0-1) . The co-organizer of the World has swung into the irrational, while the Blue, bruised faces, had already to turn to the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
The disappointment of the Blue against Australia
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