The Blues still cannot do it against Germany: despite a newfound intensity, the France team drew (2-2) on Tuesday, October 28, but will not see the final of the League of Nations against Spain after their first-leg defeat (1-0).
The scenarios are similar and the lessons are always the same against Germany with three failures in three months. The Blues wasted too much in front of goal and Germany needed so few chances to pierce the Blue defense twice.
First Nicole Anyomi in the 12th minute, who erased Maëlle Lakrar too easily before hitting a clear shot into the top corner (1-1, 12th). Then, Klara Bühl easily got rid of Elisa de Almeida to strike from a tight angle and under the crossbar of Pauline Peyraud-Magnin (2-1, 50th). The Germans almost scored a third, canceled for an offside position (67th).
The Tricolores – who found captain Griedge Mbock and Sakina Karchaoui on Tuesday – however looked better on Tuesday evening in Caen and nothing resembled the Düsseldorf match.
Three days after the defeat (1-0) in the semi-leg, the Blues changed everything: they entered the match much better, were aggressive in the duels, pressed high, put more binder between the lines and were present on the second balls.
With the desire to overturn everything and create “small feat”they produced the game they had offered in the group stage of the Euro this summer, before being stopped by the same Germans in the quarter-final (1-1, tab 6-5).
Playing very high and thanks to strong pressing, they put the ingredients in place to score in the 3rd minute: launched by Selma Bacha very leggy, Melvine Malard headed the left-hander’s cross into the small net of the German goal (1-0, 3rd).
Mateo gives hope, in vain
Aligned in place of the injured Marie-Antoinette Katoto, the Manchester United player missed the wrong thing, with a double shot at the feet (32nd). Instead of passing to Grace Geyoro, alone, she tried to hit the German goalkeeper with power, before shooting again (35th).
In the first period, the Blues pushed and had the space to turn the match around, like the goal refused for offside by Delphine Cascarino (37th), who also attempted a shot that was not dangerous enough (41st).
But these beautiful movements were seen too little in the second half, despite a strike from Kadidiatou Diani (81st) and the equalizer from Clara Mateo at the end of the match (2-2, 89th), which gave some hope, in vain.
Three months after the new elimination in the quarter-final of the Euro against the same Germans (1-1, tab 6-5), the French continue to decline, without achieving any feat, under the eyes of 18,000 spectators including the president of the FFF Philippe Diallo and Didier Deschamps, present for the first time at a Bleues match since 2019.
Despite these two consecutive failures, Laurent Bonadei should be kept in his post, according to two sources close to the matter. But in the event of defeats for third place in the Nations League against Sweden on December 28 and 2, he could find himself under heavy pressure, while his contract runs until the 2027 World Cup, according to one of the two sources.
