The Blue, domineering but long clumsy, logically came to the end of Switzerland (2-0) Tuesday February 23 in a friendly match at the Saint-Symphorien stadium in Metz. Unbeaten since the World Cup-2019 (15 games), they have kept their clean sheet in their last eight meetings.
Four days after a first victory by the same score against the same opponent, the Habs won thanks to a double from Wendy Renard at the end of the game (77e, 90e+1 from a penalty). The results of the Blue during this double confrontation, which replaced the Tournament of France, canceled after the last minute defections of Iceland and Norway due to the health context, is very positive.
Even deprived of several executives, including captain Amandine Henry or forwards Eugénie Le Sommer, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Valérie Gauvin, the France team sometimes offered interesting phases of the game, while conceding almost no opportunity to Switzerland. , 19e in the world ranking.
A lack of efficiency of the Blue
Four days after having tested a 3-4-3 organization, coach Corinne Deacon opted for a more usual 4-4-2. She had also started several players who had made a remarkable entry this weekend, such as side Eve Perisset and Perle Morroni or striker Melvine Malard.
From the outset, the Blue imposed their domination, confiscating the ball but without succeeding in building on their superiority or worrying much about the solid Swiss defense. After a first opportunity from Clara Matéo, whose strike was countered in extremis, the Habs then increased the set pieces (26e, 27e, 33e, 37e, 41e, 45e) but lacked precision to really worry the Swiss.
The only real opportunity for the Blue came after a high recovery: Sandie Toletti stole the ball from an opponent, threw Grace Geyoro into the box, who put her back, but the Parisian’s strike was deflected by the goalkeeper swiss (38e).
The Swiss team did not have many situations and mostly relied on Ramona Bachmann, the Paris-Saint-Germain striker, to try to unbalance the French. Without success.
After the break, the Habs accelerated and cornered Switzerland in front of its surface, multiplying the opportunities, like a pivotal strike from Malard (58e) or a header on Renard’s crossbar (59e). But the lack of success and efficiency prevented them from taking the lead for a long time. Finally, the Bleues logically managed to open the scoring: on yet another free kick, Perisset dropped the ball on Renard’s head (1-0, 77e). The defender then doubled the stake on a penalty obtained by Kadidiatou Diani at the very end of the match (2-0, 90e+1).
