“Broken promises”: Amandine Henry looks back on her departure from Olympique Lyonnais

2023-10-25 17:43:18

She did not want to end her career “bitter”. “Disagreement” with the coach of Olympique Lyonnais, “broken promises”, Amandine Henry looked back on her last months spent in the club which saw her reach the highest level and on her departure at the end of last season .

“It was disappointing, it wasn’t a fairy tale, it didn’t end in the best way,” she said in an interview with Agence France Presse. You have to know how to bounce back. I remained on good terms with management, it was just with the coach that it didn’t end very well.”

The player assures her, she is “not bitter and embittered”. “The club has given me a lot,” she continues. I experienced so many beautiful emotions that I will never be able to say anything bad about the club. But it is certain that if I had been able to choose, I would have liked to end my career in Lyon (…). There was disagreement and promises not kept by the coach. I preferred to leave to avoid any problems and not end my career embittered.” Since then, the 34-year-old midfielder has joined the American franchise Angel City FC in Los Angeles.

In a long message published on social networks at the end of April, the player indicated that she had asked the club to release her earlier than initially planned. “It is true that not having had a proposal from OL to extend the adventure in the club (…), I took the liberty of asking my management to agree to release me a little earlier, request accepted by the club after the elimination against Chelsea (in the Champions League),” the player wrote on Instagram.

“The club didn’t count on me”

“Contrary to what I have read, the reason why I took this step is above all because I have been made to understand in recent months that the club was not counting on me, nor to finish the season , nor to end my career there,” she added.

Injured in the calf this summer and absent from the World Cup, Amandine Henry was recalled to the French team by Hervé Renard at the start of the school year. “I can never thank him enough for selecting me after my long absence. Today, he is the one who gives me back my confidence and the desire to work.” The player has set herself a new goal, perhaps the last of her career with the French team: the Olympic Games.

“It’s a dream to be able to play the Olympics in your country, I will work all season to get there (…), she explains. I tell myself that it might be the last, but it’s not certain. (…) You have to give everything and regret nothing, because winning a title at home is wonderful.”