Soccer World Cup 2011 / France

This article covers the French women's national soccer team at the 2011 World Cup in Germany. In only its second World Cup participation, France brought it to fourth place.

qualification

Pl.	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1	France	10	10	0	0	50: 00	30th
2	Iceland	10	8th	0	2	33: 03	24
3	Northern Ireland	10	3	2	5	08:16	11
4th	Estonia	10	3	1	6th	07:44	10
5	Serbia	10	2	3	5	07:19	09
6th	Croatia	10	0	2	8th	04:27	02

see also the main article Football Women's World Cup 2011 / Qualification

The French women won their ten games in Europe Group 1 without conceding any goals:

Croatia - France 0: 7 and 0: 3
France - Iceland 2: 0 and 1: 0
France - Estonia 12: 0 and 6: 0
Serbia - France 0: 2 and 0: 7
France - Northern Ireland 6: 0 and 4: 0

In the subsequent play-off phase, the French were also able to prevail against Italy (0-0, 3-2). This is the second time that France has reached a World Cup finals tournament since 2003 . The most successful attackers of the Bleues were Gaëtane Thiney with twelve and Marie-Laure Delie with nine goals.

Preparation games

In preparation for the final round, the French association organized three friendly matches for the A-Eleven: on May 18 in Brest against Scotland (1-1) and twice against Belgium , first on June 15 in Nieuwpoort (2-1 win) and three days later in Calais (7-0). Marie-Laure Delie scored five of the ten French goals, although she was only substituted on in the first two games. National coach Bruno Bini put all the players in the final squad with the exception of the third goalkeeper Laëtitia Philippe; the following initial formation emerged:

16 Sapowicz

7 Franco 2 Renard 4 Georges 8 Bompastor 000000000000000
10 Abily 6 Soubeyrand 15 Bussaglia 14 Nécib000000000000000

17 Thiney 18 Delie (9 Le Sommer)00000

This starting eleven remained almost unchanged during the final round - with the exception of two positions: on the defensive right wing, Bini relied on Laure Lepailleur (instead of Corine Franco), and with regard to the place next to Laura Georges in central defense, he switched to Ophélie Meilleroux, Sabrina Viguier and Wendie Renard continuously. Georges and Bussaglia were not missing a single one of the total of 570 minutes of play, followed by Thiney (526), ​​Abily (517), Bompastor (480 - she had left Bini on the bench against Germany as a precaution so that she would not miss the quarter-finals because of a possible yellow card suspension), Soubeyrand (459), Nécib (424), Lepailleur (411), Delie (374) and Sapowicz (365).

Contingent

For the 2011 World Cup, coach Bini had named an expanded squad comprising 36 players; He initially reduced this to 30 candidates on May 16, before the final 21 list was announced on June 6. He relies on a block formation from the four top clubs of Division 1 Féminin : in the final squad are ten women from Lyon, five from Paris, four from Montpellier and two from Juvisy. A surprise was the non-nomination of Sarah Bouhaddi , the support of CL winner Lyon, in favor of the second goalkeeper from Montpellier, Laëtitia Philippe . With the waiver of the two experienced field players Hoda Lattaf and Laëtitia Tonazzi , however, had already been expected in the run-up to the decision. Bini justified his selection with the words "These are not the 21 best players in France, but the best who can go far as a group in the competition".

Four of the nominated players had already played at France's first World Cup participation in 2003 : Sonia Bompastor (3 games), Laura Georges (3), Sandrine Soubeyrand (3) and Sabrina Viguier (2). In addition, Bérangère Sapowicz was a substitute goalkeeper in the squad.

No.	Surname	Association (a)	birthday	debut	Country games (goals) (b)	WM- Sp.	Gates	(c)
goal
1	Celine Deville	HSC Montpellier	01/24/1982	2002	042 (0)	3	0	0	0	0
21st	Laëtitia Philippe	HSC Montpellier	04/30/1991	2009	001 (0)	0	0	0	0	0
16	Bérangère Sapowicz	Paris Saint-Germain	02/06/1983	2003	018 (0)	5	0	0	0	1
Defense
8th	Sonia Bompastor	Olympique Lyon	06/08/1980	2000	128 (16)	5	1	1/0	0	0
7th	Corine Franco	Olympique Lyon	05/10/1983	2003	047 (8)	1	0	0	0	0
4th	Laura Georges	Olympique Lyon	08/20/1984	2001	098 (2)	6th	1	1/0	0	0
11	Laure Lepailleur	Paris Saint-Germain	07.03.1985	2005	028 (2)	5	0	0	0	0
5	Ophélie Meilleroux	HSC Montpellier	01/18/1984	2003	044 (0)	2	0	0	0	0
2	Wendie Renard	Olympique Lyon	07/20/1990	2011	007 (0)	3	0	1/0	0	0
20th	Sabrina Viguier	Olympique Lyon	01/04/1981	2000	085 (1)	2	0	0	0	0
midfield
10	Camille Abily	Olympique Lyon	05.12.1984	2001	075 (19)	6th	1	0	0	0
3	Laure Boulleau	Paris Saint-Germain	10/22/1986	2005	013 (0)	2	0	0	0	0
15th	Élise Bussaglia	Paris Saint-Germain	09/24/1985	2003	081 (18)	6th	1	1/0	0	0
14th	Louisa Nécib	Olympique Lyon	01/23/1987	2005	058 (10)	6th	0	0	0	0
13	Caroline Pizzala	Paris Saint-Germain	11/23/1987	2007	015 (0)	1	0	0	0	0
6th	Sandrine Soubeyrand	Juvisy FCF	08/16/1973	1997	161 (17)	6th	0	0	0	0
attack
19th	Sandrine Brétigny	Olympique Lyon	07/02/1984	2007	019 (9)	1	0	0	0	0
18th	Marie-Laure Delie	HSC Montpellier	01/29/1988	2009	020 (21)	5	2	0	0	0
9	Eugénie Le Sommer	Olympique Lyon	05/18/1989	2009	034 (9)	6th	0	0	0	0
17th	Gaëtane Thiney	Juvisy FCF	October 28, 1985	2007	048 (19)	6th	2	0	0	0
12	Élodie Thomis	Olympique Lyon	08/13/1986	2005	052 (15)	6th	2	0/1	0	0
Trainer
Bruno Bini		Head coach	10/01/1954	2007	53 (d)
Philippe Joly		assistant

^(a) the last club the player played for during the 2010/11 season is given

^(b) A international matches (international goals in brackets) before the start of the tournament

^(c) differentiated according to “before / from the semi-finals”, because yellow cards from the preliminary round and quarter-finals were canceled by FIFA for the last two games

^(d) as a trainer

World Cup finals

In the preliminary round, the French first met Nigeria , Canada and then the German hosts . Until then, France had played against Canada six times (1 win, 2 draws, 3 losses, 3: 7 goals) and nine times against Germany (2 wins, 7 losses, 4:26 goals). There has not yet been an A international against Nigeria; However, the U-20 selections of both countries met in the quarter-finals of the 2008 Junior World Cup in Chile , which the French won 3-2. A total of eleven players from this duel - including three bleues  - were also there in 2011.

They had moved into their accommodation for the first week at the NH Hotel Heidelberg . Before the Canada game, they took  quarters in Bochum - in the immediate vicinity of the Rewirpowerstadion - then the Bleues moved to the Düsseldorf Hilton and only back to Heidelberg for the game for third place.

Preliminary round

Pl.	Womanhood	Sp.	S.	U	N	T.	P.
1	Germany	3	3	0	0	7: 3	9
2	France	3	2	0	1	7: 4	6th
3	Nigeria	3	1	0	2	1: 2	3
4th	Canada	3	0	0	3	1: 7	0

In the immediate run-up to the tournament, France, as seventh in the FIFA world rankings, was only occasionally included in the extended circle of favorites. After the first two preliminary round matches, which were rated as an “impressively strong performance” in view of the technical and tactical qualities demonstrated, the quarter-finals were decided ahead of time.

26 June 2011, Sinsheim: France - Nigeria 1: 0 (0: 0)
SR: Kari Seitz (USA)
line-up: Sapowicz; Renard (69th Lepailleur), Georges, Meilleroux, Bompastor; Soubeyrand (46th Le Sommer), Abily, Bussaglia, Nécib; Thiney (57th Thomis), Delie
Goal: 1-0 (56th) Delie
personal penalties: none
Other: Louisa Nécib was elected player of the game.

June 30, 2011, Bochum: France - Canada 4: 0 (1: 0)
SR: Etsuko Fukano (Japan)
line-up: Sapowicz; Lepailleur, Georges, Viguier, Bompastor; Soubeyrand, Abily (82nd Le Sommer), Bussaglia, Nécib; Thiney (79th Boulleau), Delie (74th Thomis)
Goals: 1: 0 (24th) Thiney, 2: 0 (60th) Thiney, 3: 0 (67th) Abily, 4: 0 (83rd) Thomis
personal punishment: Bompastor (G)
Other: Gaëtane Thiney was voted player of the game. With this game, Laura Georges was accepted into the " International Hundreds Club ".

Before the game against Germany

July 5, 2011, Mönchengladbach: France - Germany 2: 4 (0: 2)
SR: Kirsi Heikkinen (Finland)
line-up: Sapowicz; Lepailleur, Georges, Renard, Boulleau; Soubeyrand, Bussaglia, Nécib (46th Abily), Thiney; Thomis (46th Delie), Le Sommer (66th Deville)
goals: 1: 2 (56th) Delie, 2: 3 (72nd) Georges
personal punishments: Bussaglia, Georges, Renard (all G), Sapowicz (R, 65th minute)
Other: The 45,867 spectators in Mönchengladbach represented the highest number of visitors that the Bleues have ever played before.

Quarter finals

There were previously twelve games against England with five French wins and five draws as well as two defeats, the last of which was in 1974.

July 9, 2011, Leverkusen: France - England 1: 1 n.V. (1: 1, 0: 0), 4: 3 i. E.
SR: Jenny Palmqvist (Sweden)
Line-up: Deville; Lepailleur, Georges, Viguier, Bompastor; Soubeyrand (67th Thomis), Bussaglia, Abily, Nécib (79th Brétigny, 106th Le Sommer); Thiney, Delie Goals
: 1: 1 (88th) Bussaglia
goals in the penalty shoot-out: Bussaglia, Thiney, Bompastor, Le Sommer - missed: Abily
personal penalties: none
Other: Camille Abily was elected player of the game. Live TV broadcasts on Eurosport and Direct 8 were followed by well over 3 million viewers at their peak, which is a new record for women's football in France.

Semifinals

Up to this match against the USA there had been 14 games with two French wins (both in the early 1990s), one draw (2006) and eleven defeats. Unlike the French association, FIFA only has 13 direct encounters. After being sent off in the game against Germany, Bérangère Sapowicz is eligible to play again.

July 13, 2011, Mönchengladbach: France - USA 1: 3 (0: 1)
SR: Kirsi Heikkinen (Finland)
line-up: Sapowicz; Lepailleur, Georges, Meilleroux, Bompastor; Soubeyrand (78th Thomis), Abily, Bussaglia, Nécib; Thiney, Delie (46th Le Sommer)
Goal: 1: 1 (55th) Bompastor
personal punishment: Thomis (G)
Other: -

Third place game

There were previously 17 games against Sweden with five French wins (the last: 2005), two draws and ten defeats.

July 16, 2011, Sinsheim: France - Sweden 1: 2 (0: 1)
SR: Kari Seitz (USA)
line-up: Sapowicz (31st Deville); Franco (84th Pizzala), Georges, Renard, Bompastor; Soubeyrand, Abily, Bussaglia, Nécib (31. Thomis); Thiney, Le Sommer
Goal: 1: 1 (56th) Thomis
personal punishments: none
Other: -

Awards

Among the twelve players nominated by FIFA as candidates for the Golden Ball (best player of the tournament) after the semi-finals , Sonia Bompastor and Louisa Nécib were also two French women. The final election was made by hand-picked media representatives. In addition to Bompastor and Nécib, Laura Georges was also part of the FIFA All-Star Team . In addition, the goals of Élise Bussaglia to 1: 1 against England and of Gaëtane Thiney to 2: 0 against Canada together with eight other goals in the selection for the "hit of the World Cup tournament".

By reaching the semi-finals, the Bleues had qualified for the 2012 Olympic women's football tournament alongside England (as the host) and Sweden , which is a first for France. In the FIFA world rankings of 22 July 2011, however, they remained in seventh place - even with a slight decrease in their score; although they overtook the Canadians who were outclassed in the preliminary round, but at the same time opponents England made a leap forward.

France Football has rated the players in detail after the tournament:

***** Sonia Bompastor ("aggressive at the back and powerful to the front") , Élise Bussaglia ("the key player in midfield with a good eye for the situation")
**** Gaëtane Thiney ("often brilliant, sometimes just average") , Louisa Nécib ("Top dribbling, passes, ball handling, but went underground when the game got tougher")
*** Marie-Laure Delie ("two hits, hardworking, but still capable of development") , Sandrine Soubeyrand (" her calm and experience are indispensable, even if she only has strength for 60 minutes at this level ”) , Camille Abily (“ made the most of having to play on the unfamiliar outside track ”)
** Celine Deville, Sabrina Viguier, Ophélie Meilleroux, Élodie Thomis, Eugénie Le Sommer
* Laura Georges ("was never the boss of the defense, positional errors, poor ball clearance") , Bérangère Sapowicz ("catastrophic with high balls, weaknesses when running out") , Wendie Renard (“Only against Sweden somewhat more solid ”) , Laure Lepailleur (“ her regular place gave her no security ”)
- not assessable due to insufficient time: Corine Franco, Laure Boulleau, Sandrine Brétigny, Caroline Pizzala, Laëtitia Philippe

For the Frankfurter Rundschau one of the “eleven best” who “set the tone” at this World Cup was Bompastor and Nécib as well as Wendie Renard (“fast, elegant, hard to overcome in the air, technically strong”) .

Coach Bini's contract with the FFF officially expired on June 30th - before the last group game. On July 19, the day after returning from Germany, Bini signed for another two years; Should France qualify for the 2013 European Championship , its contract will automatically be extended up to and including the 2015 World Cup .

Web links

• France on the FIFA World Cup ™ site

Supporting documents and comments

1. ↑ 36er- , 30s and 21s contingent on the side of the FFF; Back numbers according to Footofeminin.fr
2. ↑ Quote after this article  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Foot Hebdo  
3. ↑ Philippe had returned to France after the first round game because of the death of her father (see this message from the FFF), but joined the team on July 5th (see here ).
4. ↑ see this article on the FIFA website
5. ↑ see the page of the city of Heidelberg  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Kicker special issue: WM 2011. , p. 24
7. ↑ see the article "Düsseldorf – Heidelberg, Stage on July 14th" at France Football
8. ^ For example, the Frankfurter Rundschau of July 1, 2011 in “French Muscle Games” ( Memento of July 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ); the article “Favorite title? No, thank you! ” On Spiegel-online from June 30, 2011 to deal with their role.
9. ↑ according to this FFF information ( Memento of the original from July 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ see the article “The lionesses are hungry”  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in Foot Hebdo of July 7, 2011  
11. ↑ after this article on the association's website
12. ↑ see this game preview on the FIFA site
13. ↑ after this article at France Football
14. ↑ see this message at France Football
15. ↑ see this article at Footofeminin.fr
16. ↑ see the selection of all ten goals (with video clips) on the FIFA website
17. ↑ see the current FIFA ranking list
18. ↑ see “Bleues, revue féminine” at France Football
19. ^ "The eleven best" in the Frankfurter Rundschau of July 18, 2011, p. S3
20. ↑ see the article "Bini, vedi [sic!] , Vici" in France Football from July 12, 2011, p. 8
21. ↑ Report via Bini's signature on the association's website