Wendie Renard is reluctant on the eve of her 10th major tournament with France to overanalyse her chances of securing Olympic gold and finally winning a title with her country. “I’m someone who likes to do, and then speak” the captain says.
The defender has won 38 competitive trophies, all with Lyon, and recognises that Les Bleues’ first title is long overdue after almost two decades of consistent knockout-stage finishes. “When I speak to some of my foreign teammates, they don’t understand it,” she says. “Sometimes it’s a question of luck, sometimes it’s that one or two centimetres’ worth of effort that we weren’t able to put in, and sometimes we weren’t able to close down the passing angles well enough.”
