France's Grace Geyoro: ‘We must look England straight in the eyes'

The Guardian

5 hours ago

Grace Geyoro has suddenly become one of the most experienced players in France's squad for the Euros. Last month the head coach, Laurent Bonadei, made the controversial decision to drop the captain Wendie Renard, the vice-captain Eugénie Le Sommer, who also happens to be the most capped female player in France of all time, as well as Kenza Dali. Geyoro was left standing and the Paris St-Germain midfielder is going into her sixth major tournament with the national team and has a clear objective: 'To win.'
As we sit down for an exclusive interview in Nancy as the Euro preparations get underway she says she is optimistic about France's chances in Switzerland. 'We have a great team, we have young players, we have more experienced players,' says the 27-year-old, who has 98 caps and 19 goals for her country. 'We score goals, we win important matches. We have players who have won titles this season, in England for example.'
Geyoro describes the France team as very technical, very powerful and very fast, saying: 'There are a lot of strikers who are able to play. Our weak points are that we may have less experience because we have not won any titles [at international level]. In difficult times we have to be able to be better because we have had disappointments.'
Disappointment is an understatement. France go into most Euros and World Cups among the favourites, but have never reached a final, even falling short at last year's home Olympics. At the last Euros, in England, they lost 2-1 to Germany in the semi-finals.
'Since we prepare competitions one year, two years in advance, when you arrive in the competition and you get eliminated quickly, it has an impact on the mind,' she says. 'It can be exhausting at some point, especially when you see the team you have.'
Bonadei prefers to see France as outsiders, reminding his players that they will face the past two winners, England and the Netherlands, in the group stage, along with Wales. 'I know that he believes in us more than anyone else,' Geyoro says. 'He pushes us and knows we are capable of going over mountains. I would say we remain part of the favourites. I know the talents we have, I train with these girls. Honestly, we have nothing to envy in other nations.'
But Geyoro must be fearful of facing England, the holders? 'No, no, no,' she says. 'At PSG, Mary Earps told us about the talents the English team has. And we see their championship [the Women's Super League], they [Arsenal] won the Champions League … we know it is a very great nation and we are prepared for that. But we must look them straight in the eyes so that we do not lower our heads.
'I might prefer to play badly and win than to play very well and lose at the last-eight stage,' Geyoro goes on to say and she believes the squad shares the same mantra. We used to count on individual talent, to count on the difference-making of just one player. Today, we rely on the collective side. We need a whole group and those who come in, those who do not start the competition, maybe they will be the ones who will finish it.'
Asked about Bonadei's decision to exclude Renard, Le Sommer and Dali, she says: 'When you know they've been in the French team for so many years, it can be a bit surprising. He [Bonadei] gave us explanations and justified his choice. We are players and the coach makes his own choices.'
Many thought Geyoro would replace Renard as captain, but that responsibility has been given to Griedge Mbock, also of PSG, with Geyoro named one of the vice-captains, along with Sandie Toletti and Sakina Karchaoui. 'An armband is what's on the arm,' Geyoro says. 'The most important thing is to have this leader on the field and to push the team in and outside the locker room.'
Geyoro became captain at PSG at 24. 'I also had it when I was young. They didn't ask me if I was ready or not. It's you and that's it. That helped me become more confident in myself. I told myself that to be given the armband is no small thing.'
Confidence was something she needed as a young girl who started playing football surrounded by boys, back in Orléans, a city 100km south of Paris. 'It was not easy,' she says. 'You have to show strength of character. When I was a little girl there were not all of the things you have now for the development of women's football. I was just passionate. I played without thinking about what I could have tomorrow. I just believed I could succeed by being a girl who wanted to play football.'
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Geyoro is releasing a comic book for children that portrays the obstacles and challenges she navigated. 'I thought I would have liked to have this kind of advice at that age. When you're in moments of doubt to read [about someone] who succeeded after going through [difficult] moments. Growing up, I didn't have such a reference. I missed a female role model.
'Unfortunately, that was normal back then. To find a female football match at the time was difficult and I'm not even that old. Today, it's easier, little girls arrive at PSG in incredible conditions.'
Geyoro was born in Kolwezi, in the southern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and moved to France with her family at the age of two. 'I was a child who was very protected by her parents, overprotected, even,' she says. 'And when you have to go to boarding school [Clairefontaine, France's national centre of football] at 13 years old, it's complicated.
'You arrive with girls you don't know and you have to adapt quickly to the schedule: in the morning you go to school, in the afternoon you train. You're also responsible for all your stuff. It makes you grow up so fast. You have no choice.'
Geyoro's route to the top has shaped the person she is now and that is why she wants to be a role model for the next generation, or a pioneer as she puts it. 'My dream would be to win a competition with the national team, no matter which one, and to be remembered for what I represented. To be part of the legends you can easily cite when talking about women's football.
'We know that our careers are going to stop so it's all about what you're going to leave as a legacy, what you're going to leave as a footprint. For people to say: 'Wow, she marked the history of French women's football.''