AUSTRALIA: How Eugenie Le Somer went “unthinkable” beyond Blue

“A few months ago, it was still unimaginable that she would go through all that…” As he looked in the rearview mirror, Patrice Lair Eugenie Le Sommer, his former striker at OL (from 2010 to 2014) is well aware that there is no sign of a fourth appearance. Women’s World Cup. With 3 goals in 3 games before they challenge Australia in the quarter-finals on Saturday (9am), he has yet to shine there. From the start of the season, the 34-year-old felt that Sonia Bombayster’s attack was not a priority at Lyon, and the rest went in this direction. In the end, he scored only 7 goals in 17 T1 games, and even scored none in the 7 games he played. Champions League. In such a flourishing life, it is a serious anomaly associated with physical defects but with cries of hopelessness.

For the second season in a row, France have been away from the squad Corinne Deacon The top scorer in the exam’s history has not been invited back since spring 2021. “It was difficult for her not to be chosen anymore with Blue, and even to become the second or third attacking choice in Lyon, encrypts Corinne Petit , her former partner at OL and in the national team. But she does not say anything, she is a great professional, super positive in the locker room. For everything Besides, “UK” never gives up, so everything that happens to him in this World Cup doesn’t really surprise me. And when you know what you’ve lost for two years, you want to make it even more the day you come back. »

“Unrivaled in the penalty area globally”

The explosion didn’t wait until the World Cup. Herve Renard was added to the captaincy of Les Bleus, who was part of his first list and then his starting line-up for the friendly against Colombia on 7 April. The long-awaited Eugenie Le Sommer responded in full by scoring a double in the four minutes (56th and 59th) needed to beat Colombia (0-2 to 5-2). The striker’s second career couldn’t have got off to a better start, as could her apparent complicity with her new coach.

“Hervé Renard manages it well both in terms of playing time and the duo he establishes in front, and it works well with a powerful attacker like Diane, Patrice praises Lair. With its qualities of displacement and the speed of its lines, we feel that it finds perhaps lost feelings. She trusts him Recovered, she is having a blast. Before earning her 20th World Cup match against Australia, another record in French football history for a player who scored 92 goals in 182 appearances, she almost blushed with Herve Renard at a press conference this Friday.

“When she came back, she didn’t have the rhythm and I don’t know if she can make it all the matches,” said the tricolor coach. But I go from pleasantly surprised to pleasantly surprised. I see her flying above the competition technically and going physically without any problems. I am satisfied. It is unmatched in the penalty area globally. I’ve seen few like that in men, and she’s up to that standard. She had surgery. With her, just one bullet is enough and we wait for tomorrow. »

“It’s not a goal for me.”

It’s still not often that such a concert of praise is given at a pre-match conference, and it’s clear how Herve Renard chose to put Eugenie Le Somer in a good mood. After his striker’s recital/double against Morocco in the round of 16 (4-0), he even went there with a beauty. Punch line “She looks like she has the legs of a 25-year-old.” So next May there will be ten more. “She manages to ask for the balls, but she is also at the end. At her age, I think not everyone can do this,” supports her partner in Les Blues Grace Gioro.

It’s simple, since the former Saudi Arabia coach arrived four months ago, he has scored 6 goals in 7 starts. His technical precision, his participation in the game and his composure in the area, in contrast to his Lyon path in this decisive header (2-1) in the pool against Brazil, which sometimes predicted a player at the end of this year’s race. This is despite him finally signing a 14th consecutive season with the OL. Of course, his return to the front in the blue jersey would not have been very smart without serious injuries. Marie Antoinette Gatto and Delphine Cascarino. But after two years of being unfairly sidelined, Eugenie Le Sommer deserves a total alignment of the planets, doesn’t she? On the FFF website, he also believed in this intermittent absence just before the start of the World Cup.

I had to go back into it because it wasn’t a goal for me. As I didn’t see my name on the list, I went a bit further with the French team. I had to reorganize myself immediately, participating in this World Cup was almost a dream for me. Deep inside me was this desire to return to exams, but no cards in hand. Although I gave my all on the pitch, the selections were made later. I knew football was moving so fast that it was just a little corner of my head. But it was very, very far away, and it became very, very close again…”

This is the second World Cup semi-final opportunity since 2011, which is so close for Les Bleus and their unexpected and “surgical” scorer.

Jeremy Laugier