Penalties and the French team, the French teams, that makes two.
The Blues of Deschamps remain in this exercise with two failures, at Euro 2021 against Switzerland in the round of 16, then during the 2022 World Cup final against the Argentinians.
The Women were also eliminated after a penalty shootout, in the quarter-final of the 2023 World Cup against Australia, when Jean-Luc Vannuchi's U17s lost the Euro 2023 final against Germany. the same way.
A real problem, on which the Federation has decided to act.
According to information from RMC, Hubert Fournier, the DTN of the FFF is launching “a process for its teams to progress in the penalty shootout exercise”.
The subject was discussed during a seminar for the French team staff.
At the center of the system put in place to resolve the problem, the coach of the selection, Didier Deschamps.
No more need for players to hide
“He is the one responsible and everything starts from him,” thinks Hubert Fournier.
Both the setup, the weeks or days before the possible penalty shootout, to prepare the players.
He will have to offer them a scenario while trying as much as possible to contextualize the penalty shootout.
And then he will have to offer them varied exercises which will allow them to create personal confidence among the shooters.
It will also be necessary to prepare, in the same way as that for the match, a real strategy linked to the specificity of shooting on goal.
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The penalty shootout is both a technical and mental exercise.
After 120 minutes of play, the objective is now to put the players in the best conditions.
“Here too, the desire is for the coach to create confidence for his players and for his group.
By having very clear ideas, knowing with your staff who is doing what during this period of time.
We calculated, there are between five and six minutes between the referee's whistle and the first shooter” continues the former Caen player on RMC.
Read also Coupe de France: 24 shooters... the incredible penalty shootout which eliminates Toulouse, defending champion
Former coach at Reims and Lyon, he continues.
“So during these five or six minutes, the staff and the coach or the coach must have very clear ideas about what the demands are and who is going to shoot.
And then, during this period which is very short, you will have to be able to give confidence to your group, and that is essential.
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There is no longer any question, now, of players shying away from the difficulty of the task.
Hubert Fournier is clear on this point.
“We also insist on the fact that this concerns eleven players.
So there will be no escape like “ah well I’m a little…” or “no I don’t feel…”.
We can see that for the girls in Australia, we got to the end and everyone had to shoot.
So we have to make it clear that everyone will have to shoot.
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