This years Coupe du Monde Feminine is in France, specifically: Paris, Reims, Le Havre, Lyon, Valenciennes, Rennes, Montpelier, Grenoble, and Nice. Unsurprisingly, the opening match, which always features the host team, was in Paris. So, on June 7, I found myself in Paris, joyfully sharing the experience with Mike and Teresa Olson of Berkeley, Charles River Soccer teammate, Dawn Tesorero, and Dawn's friend and mentee, Madeline (Maddy) Hernstrom-Hill.
The Paris games are all being played in Les Parc du Princes, home of Paris Saint-Germain. It is located just outside the Peripherie (the ring around Paris -- think something like I-95 around Boston, assuming that the entire Metropolitan area inside were all Boston) at about 8:00. I chose a hotel that was about a half hour walk away; Mike and Teresa has one about 10 minutes away (8 to be precise), and Dawn and Maddy opted for something closer to all the sites (a 45 minute metro ride). We all descended on Porte de St. Cloud for dinner and ticket exchange, and a joyful toast to Paris, the World Cup, old friends, and anything else that we felt warranted a drink.
Our goal was to hit the stadium for the opening ceremony at 8:30 and we thought we would have plenty of time getting to the stadium around 8:00. After all, how long can it take to enter a stadium? Quite some time as it turns out ... we got through the gates at precisely 8:30 and after some confusion regarding the gender-based lines for searching and frisking (I cannot imagine how a non-binary soccer fan would have experienced this; the word uncomfortable comes to mind, putting it mildly; also four lines for men to two lines for women for a freaking WOMEN'S WORLD CUP????).
Nonetheless, we got to our seats as the field was being transformed for the opening and we were seated right next to the place where all the performers came into the stadium. That was the good news; the bad news was that the show was mostly directed at the bigwigs across the field, so we never got to see the front of the cool city signs that beefy young men carried via fancy "backpacks."
The opening ceremony
was a high-energy, joyful performance, featuring a large number of dancing young women, representing all the teams in the tournament.
And then, of course, the match! It was France versus South Korea. While France was expected to win (they were a 2-goal favorite), none of the pre-match analysis prepared the crowd for the dazzling performance of the French. Not only did they dominate their guests, but they displayed speed and precision that was breathtaking. Even before her tenth minute goal, Le Sommer, made her presence known - there were at least three plays that were close enough to goals to elicit the collective gasp or groan of the 45,000 assembled fans. Finally in minute ten, she got one in -- not just a goal, but a pretty goal.
The rest of the half continued in a similar fashion -- quick runs up the field by French players and crosses from the wings dropped in front of the goal with laser-like precision. One particularly beautiful play to zippy center back Griedge Mbock Bathy ended with the ball in the net, but FIFA's VAR (virtual assistant referee) technology, which they used in last year's world cup, showed that she was offsides by the tiniest of margins. It was the right call and in prior world cups would have been counted -- in this case, the VAR did not affect the outcome of the game, but my prediction is that it certainly will before the tournament is over.
So with that goal called back, it was Wendie Renard, stalwart defender, who broke the game open. She is quite tall and France's secret weapon (or not so secret it would seem) on set plays. Her first goal came off a gorgeous cross and there wasn't really much for the Korean goalie to do. And then, at the very end of stoppage time, there was a repeat performance instants before the whistle, taking the French into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
And just to show that I am really quite terrible at the selfie, here is the gratuitous halftime selfie, with Mike and Teresa (who have mastered this art form way better than I have!)
The second half saw similar domination -- Korea's first shot on goal didn't occur until the 78th minute! And then, captain Amandine Henry, made it 4-0 with a gorgeous, curling shot in the 85th minute that entered the goal just on the correct side of the far post.
Even though there was never a question about the outcome, it was a fun game to watch. The French women are dazzling in their speed and precision and look like a pretty formidable opponent. If the tournament goes according to plan, they could meet the USA in the quarter final in Paris on June 28; should it come to pass (i.e., both teams win their bracket and their round-of-16 match) that will be a match for the ages (and unfortunate that it happens so early in the tournament.
And for those of you who do not follow the cup, but humor me by reading my blog:
Saturday's results were:
- German 1, China 0
- Norway 3, Nigeria 0
- Spain 3, South Africa 1
Today's results so far are:
- Italy 2, Australia 1 (upset)
- Brazil 3, Jamaica 0
Up next: England versus Scotlant
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