Corinne Deacon, from adversity to appeasement among the Blues
To have peace, Corinne Deacon never hesitates to go to war. Since the beginning of her career, the coach of the French women’s football team has become accustomed to deciding on the spot. The Lyonnaises Amandine Henry and Eugénie Le Sommer can testify to this. To compete in Euro 2022 in England (from July 6 to 31), Corinne Deacon chose to deprive herself of the one who was still the captain of the Bleues in 2019 and the top tricolor scorer in history, two executives who had already disappeared from speed cameras for several months.
« We especially wanted to trust the players who had given satisfaction in terms of performance and group life », justified the coach when she unveiled her list of players at the end of May.
“It was important to regenerate this squad, which we started doing after the last World Cup”added the one who is playing her second major tournament on the bench of the Blue – after a 2019 World Cup left in the quarter-finals on a defeat against the future American champions.
Its objective is clear: to win the final of the Euro at Wembley (London), on July 31, and to engrave the first major line of French women’s football. The dynamic results speak for themselves. Since March 2021, she has had her best period on the bench, with sixteen straight wins, plus a draw, against Iceland in the last match of the Euro group stage.
“No sentimentality”
Appointed at the head of the selection in August 2017, the technician went through all the emotions. Starting with a lackluster home World Cup in 2019 and during which disagreements with certain players, including Amandine Henry, emerged.
« During the World Cup, girls were crying in their rooms », affirmed the latter on Canal + in November 2020, after a non-selection in blue. The one who was still captain at the time had assured that her absence was due to the fact that she had spoken about this situation to the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Noël Le Graët.
A few days later, it was the turn of Lyon goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi to publicly express, on Canal +, her discomfort with the coach. Since these outings, the two players have not been called up in the blue jersey.
“Corinne is a winner. She’s not sentimental, she’s building a team to succeed. » notes Marilyn Fort, historic leader of the Soyaux club (Charente), where the coach spent her entire playing career, between 1988 and 2007.
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