Thirty-one years old and 82 goals. Silent since October 2019 with Les Bleues, Eugénie Le Sommer scored twice against North Macedonia (7-0) on Tuesday September 22 and brought down the old record of the historic Marinette Pichon. She said not to herself ” take the lead “ with this objective, which the followers reminded him at every gathering. The no 9, captain’s armband on his arm, scored a direct free kick then a penalty, before drowning in the arms of his partners.
“She scores a very good free kick, she takes responsibility on the penalty spot. I am very happy for her even if a former teammate [Marinette Pichon] sees his record fall “, greeted the coach, Corinne Deacon.
Eleven years after the first, the 82e international goal of the Lyon striker tastes of patience and resilience, after a season hampered by physical glitches, the long cut linked to the Covid-19 pandemic and a small failure of efficiency in front of the opposing cages .
“Lately, she has been disturbed by repeated injuries and she comes out of a dotted season”, But “She has a competitive mentality and displays a lot of qualities”, in addition to being a “Good example” for her teammates, recently slipped the ex-international Sonia Bompastor.
The current director of training for women’s OL knows Eugenie Le Sommer well since she was on the pitch when the young player from Saint-Brieuc, 19 at the time, was honoring her first cap against the Republic of Ireland (2-0), in a friendly match on February 12, 2009 in Blois. The Breton replacement had not scored that day, but from her second selection, March 5, 2009 against Scotland (2-0) in Cyprus in a friendly tournament.
“Go on for a long time”
Since then, the no 9 of OL gorged themselves on goals and titles with his club (seven in the Champions League and ten in the French Championship in particular), while stacking the selections with the jersey struck with the rooster … without ever lifting the slightest trophy official with the Blue.
“It’s difficult, because I won everything in a club and, conversely, in the France team, nothing at all…”, noted in April 2019 the fifth most capped player in the French team, two months before the elimination in the quarter-finals of the world against the United States. And despite this new sporting disappointment, coupled with criticisms launched a posteriori by the coach Corinne Deacon against him, the love of the blue jersey has never weakened at Le Sommer.
“Wearing the jersey means a lot to me”, she explained in mid-September, presenting as a secondary objective the fact of equaling or even exceeding the bar of 81 goals reached by Marinette Pichon in 2006.
“She was a great player and I know what it means to beat this record”, nevertheless appreciated Eugénie Le Sommer after her double. But “I keep moving forward”, was quick to add this fan of the selection.
Because, beyond the record, the Lyonnaise is seen above all “To continue for a long time” with the Blue, with whom she hopes to play her third Euro, in 2022 in England. “As long as I play, I want to be in selection”, But “Of course, it is not me who chooses”, she slipped this week laughing.
Eternal beating, always smiling, the young bride with 172 selections now has a new objective: to nibble its delay on the most capped Sandrine Soubeyrand, Elise Bussaglia, Laura Georges and Camille Abily.
