ambitions, future, Olympics… Coach Raphaël Reynaud speaks out before the Blues’ first World Cup

A first. This Monday, the French futsal team will play its first ever World Cup match against Guatemala. An event that Raphaël Reynaud is approaching with both ambition and serenity. It is indeed with great calm, but also impatience, that the coach of Les Bleus took part in the Figarolast Monday, during a “hold” in Dubai. The opportunity to discuss (on the phone), among other things, the preparation of the Tricolores, their ambitions in the competition and the future, both of the team and of the discipline, still too little known.

LE FIGARO. – How did the preparation for the World Cup go?
Raphael Reynaud. – We started our preparation on August 8th. We played a big game in Clairefontaine. We then did a training camp in Spain during which we faced La Roja and Costa Rica. And then, we made a stop in Dubai. [Émirats arabes unis] to break the jet lag and get closer to Uzbekistan. We leave tomorrow evening to go to Bukhara which is hosting us for the competition.

Are you satisfied with the preparation?
For now, we are. Already, in terms of the state of mind, the investment of the players, there is only positive. Then, we have players who are in good health despite a heavy workload, especially in the first three weeks. And then our record in the preparation matches is rather positive with three victories, a draw against Spain which is our big performance and a defeat which remains a bit sticking in our craw, but very formative, against Argentina, vice-world champion. Overall, it is positive. The preparation allowed us to slowly gain momentum.

So are you ready for the competition to start?
There, we are almost ready. We are going to enter another phase. We face this Monday [lundi dernier, ndlr] Saudi Arabia, which is still 48^e world. It is an opposition that will allow us to finalize certain points on which we have been working for some time. Then, we will be totally focused on the first match which will oppose us to Guatemala. So from Wednesday [mercredi dernier, ndlr]on the day of our first session, we will really start to focus on the Guatemalan team. We will then go more into the aspects related to our opponent.

You are going to play in the first World Cup in the history of the French team. How do you feel?
Above all, we are already aware of the challenge and very happy to be able to show the world of sport what futsal is with a media window, a window of interest. This is why we are eager to start to begin to show the emotions that this sport can provide and also what team we are.

What do you expect from this first World Cup?
First of all, from a sporting point of view, we have to go there with a lot of humility. It’s our first participation, experience is something that counts the most at the top level. Our goal is to get out of the group stage and above all to show a good image, to show content that people like and that allows us to capitalize and build a relationship with a wide audience.

So getting out of the group stage and playing well would make your competition successful?
Futsal is enough in itself in terms of attractiveness. But in addition, we have the identity of this team which is very interesting, for me, to follow because it is constantly taking risks, it is in the idea of ​​not suffering. We very often have very lively matches. We are often behind in the score but the team never gives up. We have arguments to put forward regarding the pleasure of watching us play.

Should this World Cup mainly help you prepare for the future?
That’s exactly it. Our initial goal was to prepare through the World Cup, or rather the World Cup qualifiers because qualifying for the competition was not in the initial roadmap. We wanted to use the qualifiers for the next European Championship. [en 2026, ndlr]. There, it is all the more interesting because we will really be in real conditions. We will go there with enormous ambitions, obviously, but all the while being aware that we are building something and that we are at the beginning of an adventure.

So your goal for the European Championship will be higher than for the World Cup?
Absolutely. We will be in a more important construction and the objective will be to reach the quarter-finals, or even the semi-finals. Now, there is already this first deadline that is coming and so we will focus on it. And then, there are the qualifications… and we have only qualified once for the European championship so we must have ambition but while maintaining humility.

What was the biggest challenge in your qualification journey?
Finally, what was the turning point was the appropriation of the game project, the French team project by the group. From the moment when, at the first gathering, the group totally adopted the game project and the French team project which promised them blood and tears, we were on the right path. In a way, that was the trigger. And it came almost at the first gathering. That was the most complicated part. Once the players had switched to the high level, the requirement, to the fact that it is also through the construction of their body that we would be able to build the game project, from that moment on, the bet was won. And the future could begin to be written.

A game project based among other things on the impact…
That’s it. Our game plan is based on the idea of ​​never being a victim. We must therefore always impact the opponent, whether on the defensive level, with the desire to go after the opponent, to provoke errors in him, or on the offensive level since we have an identity that is a reflection of the identity of our players who are inspired. We try to value them, and to restrain them as little as possible to ensure that we impact the opponent offensively.

What can we wish you for your opening match?
One thing is certain: we are going to have a lot of fun. We are really taking this match as something fun to do, a bit like Léon Marchand. It’s true that it’s an image that really struck me as a coach to see an athlete who only talks about pleasure. We already have that. Otherwise, what we can wish for us is to have a staff and players in good health to start the competition in full possession of their means. There, we will be difficult to beat by the opponent.

You mention Léon Marchand. We imagine that after the craze for Olympic and Paralympic Gamesdo you want futsal to become an Olympic discipline?
Obviously, we intend to ride on this positive momentum of the Olympic Games, which has led the entire population to follow the national teams. We hope that this momentum will continue through this World Cup. As for the Olympic Games, it is an anomaly that futsal is not Olympic. It is a global, universal sport, practiced on five continents. It is easy to organize. We are on Olympic times. I hope that time will erase this anomaly. I think that in the future, very quickly, futsal will become Olympic, there is no doubt about it. Now, the sooner the better.