And there it is! Only four days after the regrets of a European final lost by the Blues against Spain, their female colleagues have allowed us this afternoon to move on and with a smile. The task was difficult at the start of this World Cup, against Australians at home and still not far from the world summit, but the girls of Jean-Aimé Toupane crunched in this first match at full speed and it is very reassuring for the following. Next!
The two prep matches against Japan and Australia ended in two defeats, but not without some interesting lessons. Among these the urgency of redoing the French defense as a house specialty, then the urgency, also of reintegrating the last two arrivals – Iliana Rupert and Gabby Williams – into the rotations as quickly as possible. Successful combo, since the French team therefore held the Australians to 57 points today (thanks to the 5/23 of the Aussies parking lot), while offering us a rather very encouraging vision from a collective AND individual point of view . A match that the French have always seemed to manage, despite the first blows of heat from Bec Allen, despite the enormous blows of tampons from the legendary Lauren Jacksonback in selection at 41, despite the nudges of Marianna Tolo and the athletic skills of Ezi Magbegor.
French side? A huge start to the match by Gaby Williams, with 14 pawns in 5 minutes and a rather incredible facility, the perfect management of Marine Fauthoux, Pookie wonderfully alternating the pressures at 1000 an hour, the organization of the attack AND a big defensive presence, or even the smooth and hustle recovery of WNBA champion Iliana Rupert, for whom jetlag does not seem to be a problem. Lisa Berkani was effective at Fauthoux’s relay, Migna Touré stuck two or three shots which made us breathe good old fresh air, the same for Alexia Chartereau, Marième Badiane had her footwork appreciated and Sarah Michel took care of regulate all these little people and weighed on both sides of the field. In short ? Everyone brought, from player 1 to player 12, even for a few minutes just to give the girlfriends a break, just to give the Australians a cleat or two.
Queen Gabby? She recalled that if Babeth had been honored with a minute of silence, the Queen of France of basketball had been called Williams for a year. In the unexpected absence of Marine Johannes, the Storm player knows that she will have to take even more responsibility in attack and, very good news, it seems that Madame is aware. 23 points at 10/15 including 3/5 from the parking lot, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, the accent that goes well in the interview on BeIN and zou, polish me this World MVP trophy which is just waiting ‘she. And if you tell us that we are going a little fast? Know all the same that we have just released 80 balls on the site of the Fédé to cop a jersey of the EDF flocked Gabby.
The following ? Tomorrow against a very big team from Canada, victorious over Serbia in the morning. In the event of a victory tomorrow, it means qualifying for the quarterfinals at the end, already, but in any case this inaugural victory does a lot of good, in substance and in form, mathematically and psychologically. Come on, see you tomorrow at 10 a.m. to do it twice?