The scene changed. And the players! Four days after the valuable success (3-0) against Austria, last Friday in Brittany, Hervé Renard decided to make a major adjustment to his group in preparation for traveling to Portugal, on Tuesday evening, during the final round of the group stage in the league. A match without stakes for the Blues, who have already qualified for the quarter-finals of the tournament that will be held at the end of February. But this lineup review did not prevent them from remaining undefeated thanks to Paris Saint-Germain player Grace Giroud's goal in stoppage time (90+3).
Thus, this last match of 2023 allowed the coach to breathe new life, opening up the bench, giving playing time to the usual substitutes, measuring them (a few months before the Paris Games) and preventing some (de Almeida, Henry, Le Sommer, Mbock, W. Renard) from A yellow card would have disqualified them from the semi-finals in the future. Marie Antoinette Katoto and Kadiatou Diagne withdrew due to “muscle pain”.
Of the 11 players who attended the match in Rennes, only Paris Saint-Germain left-back Soukaina Kerchaoui, who also wore the captain's armband for the first time, was on the pitch at the Estadio Dr Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria. That's 10 changes!
Lack of standards that could have been fatal at the start of the match had it not been for the alertness of Solen Durant in the French goals (16th place). If Hervé Renard's players were indeed keeping their tickets in their pockets, the Portuguese were playing for survival in League One and were determined to beat the odds. In the history of confrontations between the two countries, Portugal has never been able to defeat France. But it won't be this time. April 2017 After touching the pot next to Asseyi (62 pm) with the bar room (90 pm + 2), Grace Geyoro will allow French to conclude the pool phase on a pre-packed night before 5 successes in 6 matches (and a match bad). In 2023, they will have suffered just one setback in 13 matches, during a pre-World Cup friendly last summer.
“We showed cohesion and solidarity, even if it wasn't always perfect technically, we went for the win, that's what the coach appreciates via microphone France 4. It's not always simple with 10 changes, it proves the quality of this group. It's satisfying! We have arrived To the semi-finals, which is the round we narrowly missed in the World Cup (France was eliminated in the quarter-finals), and it will be at a very high level. Let's prepare in February. We are here to win. » The draw for the Final Four will be held on December 11 in Switzerland. He will accompany France, Spain, the defending champions, Germany and the Netherlands, who beat England, the last runner-up in the World Championship, in an incredible thrilling finale on Tuesday evening.
The English thought they had done the hard part with a 6-0 win over Scotland, but the Dutch finally clinched first place thanks to a 4-0 win over Belgium and two extra-time goals from Lyon midfielder Damaris Egurrola (90+). 1, 90+5). Both teams finished the stage with the same number of points (12) but the Netherlands had a better goal difference (8 vs. 7).
