France-Cameroon (4-0): the Bleues are full of confidence

The Pierre-Brisson stadium in Beauvais was well filled this Saturday evening for the first of two preparatory matches for Les Bleues for the Euro in England (July 6-31). Before facing Italy (July 10), Belgium (July 14) and Iceland (July 18), the French have scheduled two tests: against Cameroon then against Vietnam, next Friday, in Orleans.

Against the 54th FIFA nation, whose president of the Federation, Samuel Eto’o, had taken his place at the top of the official stand where he multiplied the selfies, the Blues managed their match perfectly. Never worried, they scored four times. This is enough to calmly continue the preparation at Clairefontaine next week before aligning against Vietnam a team closer to that which will start the Euro.

What you must remember

Deprived of injured Geyoro and Karchaoui, Corinne Deacon lined up an unprecedented 4-3-3 by also offering Bordeaux goalkeeper Mylène Chavas her first start. The coach had announced her intentions for this meeting: “This match against Cameroon is not going to be easy since we are on bodies that are a little tired for our part, but the idea is also to work mentally, to refine certain principles of the game and try to give playing time to as many players as possible”. Les Bleues have fulfilled these objectives.

With Delphine Cascarino on the right and Clara Mateo in the middle, the French quickly gained the upper hand over an opponent who is preparing to compete in the CAN in Morocco. Marie-Antoinette Katoto lacked percussion and was even replaced at the break. Lyonnaise Melvyne Malard opened the scoring (1-0, 31st). Griedge Mbock, of Cameroonian origin, did not celebrate his superb goal too much (2-0, 38th). Despite the changes for the second half, the French continued to dominate. And Paris FC striker Ouleymata Sarr scored twice with a header (58th, 63rd) while her Paris FC teammate Clara Mateo continued her hard work of animation.

The player: Ouleymata Sarr

The Paris FC striker was right to tell us at the beginning of May that she was thinking of the Euro. Not only will she be on the trip to England, but she will land there with full confidence. Entering for the second period in place of Katoto on the front of the attack, she placed two superb headers to achieve a double in five minutes. It was well worth a few dance steps on the edge of the field with Kadidiatou Diani. She could even have scored a hat-trick but her shot found the post (86th).

The number: 13

Corinne Deacon’s players remain on a series of 13 successes. Their last defeat dates back to April 2021 against the United States.