Officially appointed as the head coach of the French women's team on Thursday, Hervé Renard announced his first squad as the manager of the national team on Friday. With less than four months to go until the World Cup (July 20-August 20), the French team will play two friendly matches against Colombia (April 7) and Canada (April 11).
Renard wasted no time in getting down to business. The announcement of his first list came just after his appointment as coach, following the dismissal of Corinne Diacre. One of the main attractions of this list was to see if the players who had been critical of Diacre would make a comeback. Wendie Renard, the first to announce her withdrawal from the team, has been called up by the new coach. Two weeks ago, she clearly opened the door to a return.
Kadidiatou Diani and Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who had followed in Wendie Renard's footsteps, were not expected to be in this list. Diani suffered a fracture of her right collarbone in Thursday's second-leg quarter-final of the Champions League against Wolfsburg. Katoto, on the other hand, has been absent from the field since last summer (ruptured right knee ligament). Amandine Henry, who is injured, is not in the list, but Hervé Renard called her and expressed reassurance about her condition.
For his first experience with a women's team, the 54-year-old coach has very limited time to prepare his squad for the Australian and New Zealand World Cup. After Colombia and Canada, the new coach of the French team and his staff will have two more matches to refine their automatisms: Ireland (July 6) and Australia (July 14).
The first squad list of the French women's team with Hervé Renard :
Goalkeepers: Mylène Chavas (Bordeaux), Pauline Peyraud-Magnin (Juventus Turin/ITA), Constance Picaud (PSG).
Defenders: Selma Bacha (Lyon), Estelle Cascarino (Manchester United/ENG), Hawa Cissoko (West Ham/ENG), Elisa De Almeida (Paris SG), Magou Doucouré (Reims), Sakina Karchaoui (Paris SG), Maëlle Lakrar (Montpellier), Eve Périsset (Chelsea/ENG), Wendie Renard (Lyon)
Midfielders: Kenza Dali (Aston Villa/ENG), Laurina Fazer (Paris SG), Grace Geyoro (Paris SG), Oriane Jean-François (Paris SG), Léa Le Garrec (Fleury), Amel Majri (Lyon), Sandie Toletti (Real Madrid/ESP).
Forwards: Viviane Asseyi (West Ham/ENG), Sandy Baltimore (Paris SG), Kessya Bussy (Reims), Delphine Cascarino (Lyon), Eugénie Le Sommer (Lyon), Clara Matéo (Paris FC), Ouleymata Sarr (Paris FC).