3 days ago
France tried to do it differently… but they cannot get lucky in major tournaments
Daft Punk's Get Lucky blasted out round the stadium as France players, desolate and distraught, trudged off the pitch.
The song suited the moment. France are all too familiar with sudden-death penalty shootouts, having exited the 2023 World Cup quarter-finals against hosts Australia. Two years later inside the bubbling cauldron of whistles and jeers at St Jakob-Park's, history repeated itself. France were knocked out at the quarter-final stages again after Ann-Katrin Berger saved 21-year-old Alice Sombath's decisive penalty.
In fact, apart from Euro 2022, history has repeated itself in the last nine major tournaments, including Olympic Games, as France have exited at the quarter-final stage. It seems they are cursed.
But the dynamic appeared different this year. Following Albert Einstein's philosophy, France head coach Laurent Bonadei wanted to do things differently to get different results. He certainly shook things up, omitting France legend Wendie Renard, the country's top goalscorer Eugenie Le Sommer and leader Kenza Dali from the team.
'People often say this team has a mental problem, but I don't think that's the case at all,' team psychologist Thomas Sammut told Radio France in April. 'These girls can be very strong mentally. What was definitely lacking was team cohesion and relationships.'
In their first meetings, the group decided it was important for the players 'to put their egos aside and serve the team,' explained Bonadei in his pre-match press conference.
Fully integrated into the squad since October, Sammut, who has worked with Olympic swimmers, including four-time gold medallist Leon Marchand, conducted individual sessions, team meetings and club visits. He sits in the dugout during matches. The team travelled to Anglet, deep in the south-west pocket of France, for their pre-Euros camp and did team-building activities to work on the squad's cohesion.
As France topped their Euros group of death, all the noises coming from the team camp suggested this squad were united, confident and having fun.
'We showed strength of character in the matches where we were behind,' said Mbock before the game. 'We know we can turn things around at any moment. You could even call it extra spirit.'
Locks of Mbock's hair, pulled by Kathrin Hendrich, in the 13th minute — unlucky for some — were added to France's cursed potion. The consequent red card and converted penalty fell in their favour before Sjoeke Nusken's bullet header levelled the scoring.
The curse still loomed as France had two goals disallowed for offside; Delphine Cascarino's, a magical back heel, and Grace Geyoro's. But Pauline Peyraud-Magnin stood tall to deny Nusken from the spot.
France grew frustrated and impatient to score, unable to maximise having an extra player. With Germany in a low block, France rushed decisions, made loose passes and lacked precision in the final third.
The clock ticked but time slowed down when Janina Minge's headed clearance from Karchaoui's cross looped goalwards. Berger backpedalled, leapt like a coiled spring and extended her left arm go-go gadget style, miraculously clawing the ball away. A divine intervention, the hand of god.
Despite France's efforts, Germany's wall said: 'You shall not pass'. Even the crossbar was on their side, rebounding Melvine Malard's thunderbolt in extra time.
'Penalty shootouts are a 50-50 chance,' said Lyonnes' Selma Bacha. 'I don't have the words. It's the end of an adventure. We simply played as we knew how. We were unlucky.
'They (Germany) didn't offer anything, they defended well, were aggressive, but we dominated them from start to finish. They've qualified. I'm sorry to say they don't even deserve it, but they're in the semi-finals. I'm a bad loser.'
Many will disagree with Bacha's assessment. Germany managed the space intelligently, toiled with a player down for 113 minutes, caused problems on the counterattack and disrupted France's rhythm.
Despite the defeat, Bonadei does not believe there is a 'psychological problem'. Similarly vice-captain Sakina Karchaoui said: 'There's no curse, we've put that out of our minds…We'll be fine. We'll bounce back.'
'We were there, we showed France in a good light, and I hope that one day I'll bring a title to France,' added Bacha. 'It hurts. The Nations League is waiting for us, I believe in it, I'm a competitor, I'll take France to the top.'
Bonadei shared the defender's optimism. 'Rome wasn't built in a day,' he said. 'We're going to keep working to ensure that one day this team succeeds in winning a trophy.'
Bonadei has always said France were challengers, not favourites, this summer and with a younger selection he had an eye on the 2027 World Cup, perhaps a way to relieve the pressure on him and his players.
Immediately after the full-time whistle France Football Federation president Philippe Diallo and French women's team delegate Jean-Michel Aulas shared their frustration and disappointment with Bonadei on the touchline. Diallo told the squad in the dressing room he had seen some good things, a group was forming and there was a lot of hope.
Grace Geyoro described the defeat as 'cruel' and 'difficult'. 'We can't believe it,' she told France broadcaster TF1. 'We gave it our all. We wonder when luck will smile on us. That's football, you can't control or fix everything.'
France were unlucky but for the majority of the game, they played with 11 vs 10, had the perfect opportunity to make a Euros semi-final, and failed to take their chance.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
France, International Football, Women's Soccer, Women's Euros
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