At 35, Gaëtane Thiney has just passed the milestone of 400 D1 matches.
The captain of Paris FC confides before the derby at PSG, tomorrow.
What do you think of the evolution of PSG?
GAËTANE THINEY.
In recent years, the derby has been reversed.
Before with Juvisy (which became Paris FC in 2017), we were the ones who beat PSG.
Now it has grown into a world famous club.
Economic logic has won the day.
PSG has a budget 5 or 6 times greater than ours, a huge payroll, which gives it the possibility of recruiting only international players.
PSG have just beaten Lyon with style.
The gap is shrinking every year.
I don't know if this will be a good year for the Parisiennes for the title but it looks tight until the end.
Isn't there a frustration for you to now watch this PSG-Lyon duel from afar?
Not at all.
I could have played for PSG or Lyon who contacted me in the past.
But I have always had a strong sense of belonging.
I am attached to people and I have always found myself in the human and work values of my club.
I may be atypical because most will think only of themselves and their careers.
But other than maybe making more money, what interest would I have had in leaving?
I was able to continue working (at the Federation) alongside and it was important for my life balance.
With my club, I succeeded in building a common project, we had zero contracts, now we have 20. This development delights me as much as if we had won a title.
It is also fascinating to experience on a daily basis.
But I remain a competitor and I would of course be the happiest if we win a title with Paris FC.
Paris FC has probably already let slip the 3rd qualifying place for the Champions League, the club's goal ...
This derby will allow us to see the level that still separates us from PSG.
Our start to the season is certainly frustrating in terms of results, but encouraging for the game. We were able to dominate big teams, we exude a serenity.
We play, we see ourselves progressing and that will only pay off one day.
At Paris FC, we have the chance to evolve in a club which has facilities worthy of the greatest European women's teams and which gives us time.
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You have just reached 400 matches in D1.
What does this mean to you?
With the French team, the Cups, the Champions League, I have to get to almost 700 high-level matches.
It means that I had a balanced life, that my career choices were the right ones.
I have always been serious, passionate.
It is also the pleasure that allows this longevity.
I deeply love football, sharing, and advancing my club make me want to continue.
I don't feel full.
I'm at the end of my contract but it's too early to think about it.
An adventure abroad stays in my head but my club, which I love the most in the world, will be a priority.
How do you see the evolution of women's football since your beginnings?
Already, I remain young in my head.
I like to sleep.
But if I am jovial and smiling, I am square and a perfectionist at work.
I strive for excellence all the time.
If I'm on the backs of my teammates, they know it's for their own good.
I master the football environment, the sponsors, the agents.
If I can avoid the traps for them… The professionalization of women's football is necessarily going in the right direction, but it has also given rise to new players.
I want to say to young people:
don't get lost, keep within yourself the main essence that made you love this sport.
Have you turned the page on the France team?
I will never turn the page.
Selection is my life, my passion so I am not reasonable.
In my mind, my international career won't end until the day I announce my retirement.
You can tell me what you want, that I'm too old, etc ... But my philosophy is to ask yourself what the best players can bring to the French team.
Today, the parameters are blurry and confused.
It's sad to see the image it gives off when we have taken years to build something beautiful.
All of this must calm down because no one comes out of it growing up.
But the players express themselves with the means they have.
Apart from the media, what means do they have to do this?
You have just launched your Dix.it Thiney champagne brand ...
I make my producer friends benefit from my network. It's a nod to my Auboise roots. Beyond business, I would like the profits to be donated to associations in my department, to revitalize rurality, cities that are dying out… It is also a parallel to my career. I started from nothing, from my village of Brienne-le-Château, with a deflated balloon and I lived my dream by playing the Olympics and the World Cup. Champagne is the same, it all starts on a hillside and ends up on prestigious tables.
