French women's team: "The Euro is so far away for me", says Corinne Deacon

After the arrival of the players, dropped off by car in front of the entrance to the Château de Clairefontaine where they will continue their preparation for the Euro in England (July 6-31), coach Corinne Deacon appeared at a press conference to recall the extent of the work to be done before going to England (July 6-31).

You have just returned from a pre-course in Anglet where you notably played rugby.

There were no sores?

CORINNE DEACON.

Absolutely not.

We were well supervised by Thomas Darrack, the coach of the French women's rugby team.

It was a simple initiation so we didn't take any risks, there were no injuries.

We did a regeneration course, physical and mental.

But there was also a big cohesion part, even if we have obviously known each other very well for a little while.

But it was necessary to restart with an internship, let's say rather nice.

What has changed in your approach to the event compared to the 2019 World Cup?

We haven't changed anything.

We had also done a cohesion course before the World Cup.

We were with our president in Brittany (Editor's note: Noël Le Graët).

The only difference is that we had played a little golf-football.

For the rest we are ready to suffer, because despite everything there will be efforts to be made.

But we will share them.

This is a normal and necessary period in view of our objective, which is to go as far as possible.

In what physical condition are the players?

The girls still had a week's vacation.

They are well.

They were happy to meet, to find us and to share these few moments outside football.

And this morning (Tuesday) they were also happy to meet again.

Everything is fine.

Arrival at Clairefontaine of Parisian attackers Marie Katoto and Sandy Baltimore accompanied by Messina goalkeeper Justine Lerond.

Les Bleues are preparing for the Euro in England (July 6-31).

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You wanted the individual situations to be settled before the start of the preparation.

This is still not the case for Marie Katoto at the end of the contract at PSG…

It's in progress.

Afterwards there are things that we do not control and neither does she.

But she will in any case ensure that the situation is resolved as quickly as possible.

Eve Perisset leaves for Chelsea, Charlotte Bilbaut returns to Montpellier.

What do you think of the movements of these two Bordeaux women?

As long as the players make their choice, it's always a good thing.

And then what is good is that it is settled before the preparation.

So at least for them there is no more uncertainty about the post-Euro.

After all, it's good for Eve to be the first French player at Chelsea.

It also shows the extent of his qualities and the quality of his performances in recent months with Bordeaux and the France team.

Personally, how much did you expect this Euro?

There was no impatience on my part.

The objective was to qualify for the World Cup (Editor's note: in 2023).

That's what we did.

It was our goal for the season.

We didn't get the wrong objective.

We managed with my staff to stay focused on qualifying.

After the matches in April, we switched to preparing for the Euro.

There were a lot of things that we had anticipated but we absolutely didn't want to think about the Euros before qualifying.

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How are you going to organize the revving up to hold over the duration of the Euro?

The objective is to be ready to perform six times ninety minutes.

Minimum.

We have seven weeks to bring the whole group back to the same level and then individualize as much as possible.

How did you choose your two opponents for the friendly matches, Cameroon on June 25 and Vietnam on July 1?

The important thing is already to have two matches.

It was quite difficult to find two opponents.

It's true that it was a bit complicated to find European teams since as we have the ambition to go very far we wanted to avoid teams against whom we could play.

We had also solicited nations not qualified for the Euro.

But as the preparation is not in a FIFA date, the players were not available.

We have taken refuge in non-European countries.

But Cameroon, which is preparing for the CAN and Vietnam, which has qualified for the 2023 World Cup, are two important opponents for us to establish our tactical plan and perfect our physical preparation.

Have you planned activities to distract you during this long preparation?

There will be a few activities, but we mustn't get the wrong objective.

The important thing is going to be to work well on the pitch and then, as we told the players, we will listen to what they need.

And depending on that we will start discussions and we will see what we can put in place.

Is there any excitement in playing a new big competition?

The investment on my part and my staff is the same.

The excitement I think will come closer to July 10 (Editor's note: the first match of the Euro against Italy).

Today we have so much work to do.

The Euro is so far away for me.

For the moment we are in the work, the reflection, the analysis, the adaptation.

There is absolutely no excitement.

After that it can be good too but for the moment we are calm.

We had a good internship last week.

Now it has to last.

The girls will also have to respond well to work.

Hoping we don't have too many injuries.

We will see day by day how this group will evolve.

Are there things you've done in the past that you wouldn't do again in terms of preparation?

So I'm facing forward and I'm not looking behind.