France, pioneers in the female 'revolution' and intractable for Spain

When 15 players from the Spanish National Team raised their voices publicly, they were not the only ones in Europe. Other soccer players had paved the way to not tolerate more rudeness from their federations. It was the French, today Spain's rivals in the Nations League final, who began their revolution as soon as they fell in the quarterfinals of their World Cup in 2019.. It was not an easy process, nor did it bear immediate fruit.. They had to stumble again in the semifinals of the 2022 Euro Cup, stop wearing the national jersey and have the president of their Federation resign due to a shocking audit of their management.

The players' relationship with coach Corinne Diacre was poisoned almost from their arrival and exploded two years later, after the World Cup in France.. The veteran Gaëtane Thiney accused her of “infantilizing” the players and the French top scorer, Eugénie Le Sommer, together with the midfielder Amandine Henry, described the coach's management as “chaos.”. As a consequence, neither of them was already in the European Championship in England.

But the final blow was given six months before the World Cup in Australia by captain Wendie Renard, who had recovered in 2021 the bracelet that Diacre took from her when she came to the bench.. On February 24, he publicly announced that, at 32 years old, he was resigning from the national team, “because I can no longer support the current system far from the requirements required by the highest level,” explained the Olympique Lyon defense.. Four other important players joined her decision, such as: Katoto, Diani and Morroni, all three from PSG, and Mbock, Renard's teammate in Lyon.

From Arabia to the women's bench

This massive stance made the French Federation react, which in March fired Diacre, because “the fracture has reached an irreversible point that undermines the interests of the team,” and hired Hervé Renard, who had just left the Saudi Arabia national team. after giving the surprise with a victory against Leo Messi's Argentina.

With no experience in women's football, she led France to the quarterfinals, in which they lost on penalties to Australia and has proven intractable in the Nations League, where they have only conceded one draw and conceded two goals.

He has put together a lethal team in quick transitions that will leave the ball in the hands of Montse Tomé's players, who continue to have doubts from Tere Abelleira and Alexia Putellas despite the fact that they have already trained with the group. France loses, for personal reasons, Sandy Baltimore, who has been replaced by the young Vicky Becho.

The precedents are not good for the Spanish National Team: in 13 confrontations with the French they have only been able to get three draws. The last time Spain avoided defeat was in Euro 1997, a 1-1 draw that took the Spanish team, on goal difference, to the semifinals, the best result in European tournaments. Five years ago, in 2019, they met in a friendly that again ended in defeat (2-0).