Like the day before, the French women’s and men’s teams lost to Germany during the second and final day of the Test Event organized on the grounds of the legendary Yves-du-Manoir stadium which will host the Games from July 27 to August 9 next.
The tactical and technical mastery of the Mannschaft
Among the women, after the great resistance put up the day before (2-0 defeat) against the Germans, we will above all remember the lessons to be learned from a second confrontation in 24 hours against a top world team (3rd in the FIH ranking) that the players of Gaël Foulard (20th) are not yet used to challenging.
After a balanced first quarter in terms of score (0-1 on penalty stroke), thanks to some great saves from French goalkeeper Mathilde Petriaux, the tactical and technical mastery of the Mannschaft slowly but surely brought down the courageous resistance of the teammates of captain Emma Ponthieu. Four small corners and 3 goals from play increased the score. Only a superb offensive action from Albane Garot allowed France not to leave their meeting in Colombes hungry.
“These matches will serve as benchmarks for the month of July”
Emma Ponthieu, captain of the French team
Emma Ponthieu (captain of the French team): “I think we were less present in terms of attitudes compared to yesterday. Defensively and offensively we had a lot more aggression on Saturday. We lacked today, whether in our press system, in our defensive system, we passed too easily. Afterwards, they also raised their level of play because they must not have been satisfied with yesterday’s match. We, on the contrary, played below our capabilities. What we said to ourselves is that these matches will serve as benchmarks for the month of July, in order to have the best system to counter this type of team. We learn from these matches even if after a match like that it’s difficult to see the positive…”
“We still have preparation matches left, the goal is to put ourselves in difficulty now so as not to be in difficulty during the Games”
Gaël Foulard, coach of the French women’s team
Gaël Foulard (coach of the French team): “The goal is to gain experience against these nations and learn lessons. Yesterday’s match allowed us to draw some, today’s match, despite the score, allows us to draw others. The heavy defeat cannot be erased in any way. Certainly the period is not the most favorable, we knew the girls were tired because we are coming out of the club period, there was no break. Our peak form is planned for the Olympic Games, the high level is hard, every detail counts.
As much as yesterday our good performance was due to our good start to the match, today it was a little more delicate, which impacted the players in terms of confidence and intentions and, inevitably, attitudes . I think we were a little afraid of ourselves. This is our 4th match at this level against a top 5 nation in the world. We will be at our cruising speed when we have played between 25 and 30 matches at this level. For now, we discover, we learn, we draw lessons. We still have preparation matches, the goal is to put ourselves in difficulty now so as not to be in difficulty during the Games. »
Tied play in the second half
On field no. 2, Fred Sé’s men, after their defeat the day before (5-2) against the 4th nation in the world, were keen to reverse the trend. But if they managed to equalize in the second half, when physical wear weakened the level of vigilance, it was at the end of the first that the gap widened, on a strong beat from the Germans, authors of two goals in five minutes before the break, including a small corner 11 seconds from the whistle sending both teams to the locker room. We can never repeat enough that the context was not favorable for the Blues deprived of 8 indisputable starters retained by the semi-finals of the Belgian Championship this weekend…
Frédéric Sé (coach of the French team): “The result was not the most important thing, we were mainly looking for the way, to give playing time to young people, to gain experience. It was better than we thought. We set goals and all the things we put in place worked pretty well. Afterwards we played against a team which had a little more mastery and a little more control, we were able to defend well, even if there are still things to improve. So it remains positive when we know that on the pitch we sometimes had an average age of 22-23, with, let’s say, kids who were playing their first match. We watched the semi-final matches of the Belgian Championship this afternoon all together, we still have 8 French people who will play the final, 7 who are with us (in selection) and Victor Charlet who scored three goals for his team.
“It’s a good weekend for us”
Frédéric Sé, coach of the French men’s team
We know that we have strong assets, players who have an important role in their club and who will play in the final of an important Championship. It’s a good weekend for us. Now, we’re giving them a week off to recover and then we’ll focus on preparing for the Nation Cup. (May 31 – June 9, in Poland) with the objective of winning this tournament, it will be complicated, we are favorites but we also have to assume this role. It’s still good preparation for the Games; We saw in the last match that we are capable of producing good play, now we have to work on this tournament to improve consistency and repeat performances one after the other. A real tournament with a stake at the end, that’s what we wanted. »
