The Blue team suffered but managed to overcome the Scandinavian trap, thanks to goals from Gauvin and Le Sommer.
The stadium in Nice was packed for this Women’s World Cup match, having been empty on Sunday during the match between England and Scotland (2-1). Driven by the Nice crowd fully supportive of them, the Blue team started the match at full throttle.
The first twenty minutes mainly saw France struggling against Norway. The Scandinavians held strong, defensively solid and capable of being dangerous on the counter-attack.
On the other side, the Blue team created chances, but Diani (17th, 29th) and Gauvin (24th, 25th, 31st) lacked effectiveness. The first half ended with a tied score.
When returning from the locker room, the French team quickly got back into the match. Right after the restart, Gauvin connected with a cross from Majri and opened the scoring (1-0, 46th minute). The match intensified, but a few minutes later, Wendie Renard completely mishandled a harmless cross and scored an own goal (1-1, 54th minute). The match was back on level terms.
French and Norwegian players exchanged blows. And as often is the case, the match turned again due to a VAR intervention. During a French attack, Marion Torrent contested the ball with Ingrid Engen, who missed her clearance and hit the French player at knee level.
After a few seconds of hesitation, the match referee awarded a penalty to the French team. Eugénie Le Sommer did not hesitate to convert it and put the Blue team back in front on the scoreboard (2-1, 72nd minute pen).
The end of the match was more balanced, as France resisted the rare Scandinavian attacks and eventually secured a narrow victory. With this success, they hold the top position in group A (6 points), ahead of Norway and Nigeria (3 points), the next opponents for the Blue team. The match will take place on Monday, June 17, in Rennes (kick-off at 9 p.m.).
REACTION FROM CORINNE DIACRE
“We knew that tonight would be a different match. We also knew we wouldn’t win all the matches 4-0. Finally, we knew it would be a tough opponent. We did what we needed to do to win. There are still mistakes we can eliminate, but we played a serious and courageous match, both physically and mentally. Regarding Nigeria, I take it one match at a time. I wasn’t thinking about anything for this game, I’ll think about it tomorrow (Thursday). We want to savor these first six points. We want to make a clean sweep. Goal difference won’t help us because we’re aiming to get nine points.”
REACTION FROM AMANDINE HENRY
“It was tougher than South Korea, an intense match, we made a lot of efforts tonight, we played with mental strength and stayed united, which is good. The own goal? It didn’t make us doubt, but these things happen. We didn’t give up, and even if it wasn’t very academic, the main thing is the victory against a very strong team. Now we have to recover. Then, we’ll need to draw conclusions, understand why we didn’t dominate possession as usual. In the heat of the moment, it’s hard to know.”
REACTION FROM WENDIE RENARD
“We managed to open the scoring after the break. I made a big mistake. I heard Amel (Majri) talk to me, but with the noise, I didn’t understand what she was saying. Then, at the end, she told me she was alone. I wanted to just put it out for a corner, but then I touched it with my heel a bit and it went in, unfortunately for us. It was a blow. It reminds us that every day, every minute, we must stay grounded. We had a great response after my goal. I kept my focus and, afterward, I can thank my teammates, especially Eugénie (Le Sommer), who scored the penalty. I thought: “Good heavens, thank you, Lord.” I think this is going to make it to the highlights, but I don’t care, we won, and that’s the most important thing. We’re continuing on our little path.”
