France vs Korea: Les Bleues open World Cup campaign
The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off this Friday, and it’s hosts France who will begin proceedings as they lock horns with Korea. France will be hoping to match the success of the men’s side, who won the World Cup last summer in Russia, but they will face some stiff competition from the likes of reigning champions USA, Germany, and Japan.
Corinne Diacre did make some waves by opting to leave out young striker Marie-Antoinette Katoko due to “attitude problems”. It’s reminiscent of Didier Deschamps deciding to omit Karim Benzema, despite his solid form for Real Madrid from the World Cup squad. In Katoko’s case, she won the top scorer prize in the Division 1 Féminine for PSG, a year after finishing second behind inaugural Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg. But despite this, Diacre feels clearly there’s no room in her team for her. And just as Deschamps was questioned for his decision to leave out Benzema – and vindicated as France won it – Diacre will be hoping that her gamble will pay off as France seek to become the first nation to be crowned champions of the world in both the men’s and women’s categories.
With stars like Amandine Henry and Eugenie Le Sommer in her squad to lead her attack, as well as their Lyon teammate Wendie Renard, who has proven to be a rock in defense, Diacre certainly does have reason to be confident in her team’s chances at making history.
Germany’s women’s side attempted to do this in 2015, a year after the men’s team won their fourth title in Brazil, but came up short. France have the added pressure of playing in front of their home support, and as interest in the women’s game continues to grow, expect this to be a highly followed tournament. They do come into this match in strong form, with wins in six of their last seven matches since the start of 2019. The only blip was a narrow 1-0 loss to Germany, but most impressive is the fact that they beat the USWNT 3-1, as well as 2015 World Cup runners-up Japan by the exact same score-line.
Meanwhile, their upcoming opponents South Korea have not been in the best of form as of late. In fact, they ended up losing to Sweden in their final warm-up game prior to this tie, and Yoon Deok-yeo will know that his side have an uphill battle heading into this game. This will be the second time France and Korea have met at this competition, and the last time will not bring back fond memories for the Koreans.
It was the first time the Asian nation had gotten out of the group stage, but they were crushed 3-0 by France in the round of 16 to send them swiftly home. Chelsea star Ji So-yun and West Ham’s Cho So-hyun will be crucial to their chances at trying to navigate through a tricky group stage campaign. Certainly, France may be a bridge too far, but they will hope to frustrate Norway, who are without their star striker Hegerberg and pick up vital points against Nigeria.
