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Les Bleues, pushed into overtime, swallowed the pressure that had made them tremble for a decade in the quarter-finals, offering themselves this Saturday at the Euro the scalp of the outgoing Dutch (1-0 ap) at the end of the suspense, with blood cold.
More powerful and more enterprising, the French women achieved a performance of queens, in the kingdom of football, and kept intact their dream of ascending the throne, now vacant, on July 31 at Wembley. After dismissing the Dutch, European champions and vice-world champions in title, it will however first be necessary to bite into another big piece, Wednesday in Milton Keynes: Germany, biggest winners at the Euro (eight titles), with a hitherto impregnable defense. In the meantime, the Blues have four days to recharge the batteries, largely started by the summit of Rotherham.
After ten years of repeated failures, France has finally broken the glass ceiling of the quarter-finals on which his ambitions were shattered five times in a row (Euro 2013, World Cup 2015, Olympics 2016, Euro 2017, World Cup 2019). The window of his car cracked by a projectile, Saturday on the road to the stadium, was ultimately a happy omen…
In overtime, the light came from a breakthrough of the untenable Kadidiatou Diani, mowed into the surface. The referee awarded a penalty after using video assistance and it was Eve Perisset, an unusual penalty shooter, who executed the sentence (102nd).
A victory that was slow to emerge
The presence of Les Bleues in the last four was expected, given its many talents, but it was slow to emerge on Saturday in the small New York Stadium (9,800 spectators), where the number of missed opportunities often gave the vertigo.
In a one-sided match, the young goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar (22), propelled to the front of the stage after Sari van Veenendaal’s package, was saved for a long time by luck, her own talent or the clumsiness of the Blue. The latter wasted ammunition on heads by Wendie Renard, without force or precision, or on attempts by Sandie Toletti (23rd) and Melvine Malard (26th), unable to frame their shots.
After a decrescendo first round, ended with a hitch against Iceland (1-1), France regained their strength against a collectively tough opponent, if not brilliant. Until then, he lacked such a reference match on which to gain confidence, it is now done.
(With AFP)