Finally, there was no waiting for the 25th minute for the first freshness break to occur.
After 43 seconds of play, in the dampness of an English evening at almost 35 degrees at kick-off, Melvine Malard, perfectly served by Clara Mateo, already found the opening.
A real cold snap for Iceland which, carried by a beautiful delegation of supporters, hoped to manhandle the France team, already qualified and assured of first place in the group.
In the wake of her goal, Melvine Malard sent a message that must have warmed the heart of Marie-Antoinette Katoto in front of her TV.
"This is for you, Mary!"
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She formed an M with her fingers before throwing at the camera a touching "It's for you, Marie!"
The Parisian had left her partners on Wednesday morning to return to Paris to have surgery for her sprained right knee with anterior cruciate ligament injury and cracked meniscus.
Les Bleues pose with Marie-Antoinette Katoto's jersey #Euro2022 pic.twitter.com/HUiTnzNdAj
— The Parisian |
PSG (@le_Parisien_PSG) July 18, 2022
In the gallery, installed just above the families and relatives of the tricolor players, the staff of the Netherlands, including Marck Parsons, the coach, could not but be impressed by this sensational entry into the matter of the Tricolors.
Corinne Deacon had however made six changes compared to the eleven which had started against Belgium.
This was not seen at the start but certain errors throughout the match, and in particular during the second period once again, reminded us that the Blue did not necessarily have a lot of margins.
Second periods that raise questions
Because even if Sandy Baltimore (55th) and Grace Geyoro, on a blocked shot (67th) touched the uprights of the Icelandic goal and twice the VAR also came to cancel the goals of Malard (68th) and Geyoro (88th), the French were also worried.
An Icelandic header on the bar (11th), a miss from the attacker surprised by the missed aerial ball taken by Pauline Peyraud-Magnin (41st) made the rare French supporters present shiver.
Until then, the goalkeeper showed that the France team could count on her, despite the particular context in which she is going through this Euro with the tragic death a few days ago of her ex-companion.
His flight to capture a long shot made the public rumble with pleasure (56th).
But by force, the Bleues ended up cracking in stoppage time, conceding a penalty that Pauline Peyraud-Magnin could not stop.
Doubts to sweep away
While they hoped to switch to the preparation of a new quarter-final of international competition in serenity with an eighth victory in a row, the Blues will have to sweep away the doubts.
After Italy (5-1), Belgium (2-1), the Icelandic confrontation will indeed not have allowed to increase a little more in power.
Nor to be ready to challenge the reigning European champion and World Cup finalist on Saturday.
The week of recuperation and work awaits them at their base camp in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where they feel so good, won't be too much.
Admittedly, if they lost Katoto, they found a reassuring solution with Melvine Malard.
At 22, the Réunionnaise from OL struck a chord with her self-sacrifice on the attacking front.
Faced with a formation called upon to offer more space than Sweden, the Blues may have the opportunity to show off their attacking speed.
See you Saturday at New York Stadium in Rotherham for the fourth time, but until then, we will have to forget this heat stroke if they do not want their European adventure to stop again in the quarter.