As the final whistle blew, the France players did not sink to their knees. They stood on the pitch, staring into space, or slumped back in their seats on the bench, eyes down to the ground.
This was not a sense of disbelief, but one of deja vu. It had happened again. They had been knocked out of a major tournament at the quarter-finals for the eighth time in 15 years, only five years on from losing to the United States in the last-eight stage of their home World Cup.
From Leon Marchand with his four gold medals in the swimming to Cassandre Beaugrand kicking hard in the final lap to win the women’s triathlon, plenty of French athletes have drawn strength from participating in a home Olympics. Not so in women’s football.
It is a sport France has long struggled to fall in love with, as the attendances have shown. Before the quarter-finals, the tournament had the lowest attendance since the competition was introduced in 1996 (excluding Tokyo), with an average of 12,212 spectators per match. Games in Paris have been well attended, but the rest of the country has been nonplussed and this 1-0 quarter-final loss to Brazil will not have converted the doubters.
France toiled for large portions of the match. They created good chances, particularly for tournament top scorer Marie-Antoinette Katoto, but she could not find the back of the net. Sakina Karchaoui also had a first-half penalty saved. The off-putting four-minute check from the video assistant referee did not help — especially as it was a clear-cut penalty — but none of that mattered by the 82nd minute. A hopeful ball forward confused France’s defenders, allowing Gabi Portilho to sneak into acres of space and score. Brazil had to defend for a further 26 minutes, with 19 minutes of stoppage time, but they held on to reach the semi-finals.
Karchaoui had been the one to question France’s mental ability to compete earlier in the tournament.
“I get the feeling that we always make the same mistakes,” she told Le Figaro after their group-stage match against Canada where they lost 2-1, having conceded in the 102nd minute. Clearly her team did not learn their lesson quickly enough.
“It’s frustrating, there is a lot of disappointment,” said captain Wendie Renard after this loss.
It was a sentiment echoed by Delphine Cascarino: “We didn’t deserve to lose.”
The problem for France is that this is no longer a one-off — it is a pattern. They had already ended up with a favourable draw at this tournament thanks to the six-point deduction handed out to Canada for spying on New Zealand’s training sessions during the group stage. That meant France topped their group and drew a third-placed side, when the results dictated they should have played Germany.
Herve Renard had already decided to move on before the Olympics (Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
It did not benefit them in the end. Instead, their favourable draw highlights this team’s ability to disappoint. No matter the talent at their disposal, France just cannot seem to make it click. That failure was previously placed at the door of former manager Corinne Diacre, who presided over a toxic environment.
Under Herve Renard, players have been reintegrated, but some of his comments have been evidence of a lack of faith in the women’s programme. Following their 3-2 group stage win over Colombia, Renard pointed to the two goals they conceded in the second half as part of why French people were not interested in watching the women’s game.
Renard had already announced that he would be leaving following the culmination of the Olympics. That is hardly surprising given he had reportedly been open to coaching the Ivory Coast team at this January’s AFCON after they sacked their manager at the end of the group stage. The French Football Federation refused, but it was clear he already had his eyes on the door.
It means France now have 11 months to embed a new manager before next summer’s European Championship in Switzerland. For all their continued struggles, this could be a very exciting side. In Katoto, they have one of the best strikers in the world. Sandy Baltimore, Selma Bacha and Maelle Lakrar are competing at elite clubs but will continue to develop, too. There are question marks over the goalkeeper spot and some older players may need to make way to freshen up the squad, but this should be a team that is seen as a real threat in Europe.
To make the most of that, they need a manager who believes in them — not one who places the blame for a lack of public interest on his players, or one who freezes them out as part of strange power games. For far too long, a general malaise has left talented French players to struggle through international tournaments and straight into early exits. It is a frustrating situation, one that Renard, as much as his players, was supposed to help turn around.
It has been five years since France hosted the World Cup. This Olympics will likely go down as another missed opportunity to galvanise interest in the women’s game. Who knows when that next opportunity will come along? Meanwhile, other international teams continue to grow. France have to stop being left behind.
(Top photo: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
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