France emerge from turbulent times with WC hopes renewed

Renard gave up a lucrative contract with the Saudi Arabia men's team to answer the call from his country after Corinne Diacre was sacked in March. Diacre had been in charge since 2017 and oversaw France's exit from the last World Cup as hosts in the quarter-finals to the United States in 2019. Her position became untenable following a revolt by leading players.

Captain Wendie Renard had effectively said she would not go to the World Cup, which starts next week, if Diacre stayed because she could "no longer support the current system". Fellow stars Kadidiatou Diani and Marie-Antoinette Katoto followed her lead in making their dislike for Diacre clear, and a change had to be made if Les Bleues were to stand any chance of going far in Australia and New Zealand.

The 54-year-old Renard, who is no relation to the France skipper, accepted a deal which will also see him lead the team at the Paris Olympics. He immediately set about turning the page on the mutiny that cost his predecessor her job.

"I am focused on the present and the future," he told 'AFP'. "I have not looked at what happened in the past. I have a fresh view on things having come from outside," added the man who led Saudi to a stunning victory over Lionel Messi's Argentina in the group stage of the Qatar World Cup.

 

July 14, 2023

Big paycut

Renard knows what it takes to win a major international tournament, having lifted the Africa Cup of Nations twice, with Zambia in 2012 and Ivory Coast in 2015. He admitted to taking an enormous pay cut to leave the Saudi position.

"If we are talking after tax it is 20 times less," he said, before adding: "I never hesitated. That is not what will allow me to progress in football, even if it is important. What matters to me is the challenge and this is one I have taken on for other reasons. I am convinced I was right to take it."

France will be expected to advance to the last 16 as group winners as they aim to at least match their best Women's World Cup performance yet, of fourth place in 2011. They have gone out of the last two World Cups in the last eight and lost in the semi-finals of last year's Euro. If they are to do better this time they will need to overcome injuries, especially to Lyon winger Delphine Cascarino, who was voted the best player in the French league last season.

She is out of the World Cup with a ruptured ACL. "The absence of Delphine is a huge loss," admitted Renard. Prolific striker Katoto has also not recovered from a knee injury in time, while PSG midfielder Oriane Jean-Francois pulled out with an adductor problem. Former captain Amandine Henry, recalled by Renard after long being frozen out under Diacre, was initially named in the squad only to withdraw with a calf injury.

The new coach also left out Kheira Hamraoui, a decision which the now ex-PSG midfielder called "an injustice". Hamraoui was the victim of a violent attack as she made her way home from a club dinner in November 2021, when she was dragged out of her car and beaten. Her teammate Aminata Diallo, who witnessed the assault and is said to be close to Diani and Katoto, was later charged for her alleged role in the affair.

Renard insisted there were no ulterior motives for leaving out Hamraoui, calling it "a football decision". Now he must hope France, who sit fifth in the FIFA rankings, can fulfil their undoubted potential.