Women’s Euro 2022 – Melvine Malard’s performance against Iceland (1-1), a big sigh of relief for Deacon – Eurosport FR

From our special correspondent in Rotherham, His pre-match was in his image: confusing. After exchanging a few passes with her best friend Selma Bacha, Melvine Malard isolated herself near the center circle to… juggle. During this time, the incumbents had gathered on the side to put on physical pressure with the group’s trainer. But Malard was missing. Euro 2022 Deacon on the quarters: “No interest in rehashing the past, especially when it is not good”17 MINUTES AGOIt was with a big smile that she ended up joining the troop, laughing on her side head in the clouds. Once the warm-up was over, she had the right to find her ball for an attempt in front of goal. Shifted to her left foot, she sent a marvelous brushed shot into the skylight before heading to the locker room. She was ready. It was seen. From her first ball, she tried her luck. His credo on this match. On her second, she felt Clara Matéo behind her. His heel full of spontaneity puts the Blue in the right direction. The rest, it is she who tells it. “I am a player who likes to combine and it was seen on this goal, she detailed in a press conference. I give Clara a discount and she feels that I ask for it again in depth. She gives me the pass and I chain left foot”. Easy as pie. Confusing but also disarming. 20 players used out of 23: “For the moment, Deacon has everything good” Supported hug with DeaconBecause this match against Iceland was not a match like the others for her. In the absence of Marie-Antoinette Katoto, to whom she dedicated her goal, all eyes were on her. With an underlying question: does she have the level for this kind of competition? The answer is a huge sigh of relief for Corinne Deacon. Because Malard has won his bet. And because the Bleues were able to evacuate this black cloud which was beginning to form over their heads. While his press conference the day before seemed to designate Ouleymata Sarr as a natural replacement for MAK, it was finally Malard who was chosen by Deacon. “You have to decipher between the lines, laughed the boss of the Bleues to the journalists who asked her about this turnaround. Melvine is young, she showed great things in training. She has never disappointed us and especially not this evening. She scored that goal which almost gave us the victory. She is a talented young player who does not calculate, who gives a lot. I wanted to return the favor”. On leaving, it is also a long hug that the coach reserved for her player. The boss of the Blues undoubtedly had a fear: that Malard was trying to fill a gap. She overplays to try to get into Katoto’s crampons. And that it ends up playing against nature. It was quite the reverse. Because the OL player didn’t see the problem that way. “The coach trusted me, I said to myself ‘it’s up to me to play my football’, she explained of her pre-match state of mind. We are in a great competition, we had to having fun, it worked pretty well so that’s good”.Melvine Malard, goalscorer against IcelandCredit: Getty ImagesKatoto praises her: “She was huge”In reality, Malard had one fixed idea: to score. But not for her, rather for her friend Katoto, with whom she has become close in recent months, by dint of asking her advice to finish better in front of goal. “We exchanged messages before the match, explained the heroine of the evening on TF1, facing… Katoto. All I wanted tonight was to score and pay tribute to Marie. It starts with the check , because we have a check with Marie with this M. She is there for us, we are there for her”. For her part, the PSG player had only laudatory words towards the one who will therefore succeed her momentarily at the forefront of the tricolor attack. “She was huge tonight, admitted Katoto. She is a very good player who has improved a lot. She is becoming my little sister, I love her very much and I hope she will continue like this because “She’s got it all. So continue to amaze us but stop celebrating for me, please. I don’t want any problems (laughs).” Facing the Netherlands, should we believe it? “Les Bleues are almost favorites” Among the players, no one has ever really doubted Malard. Because everyone adores the woman, constant smile and systematic positive energy. But also because everyone has already seen the player at work. “The coach put Malard in Marie’s place, she has a sense of purpose too, we have full confidence in her, and I’m proud of her”, explained Sakina Karchaoui in particular. As for Wendie Renard, she took out the barbed wire around her protegee when talking about her performance. “We must not put pressure on the players that there are”, estimated the captain of the Blue, just to protect a little more the one who sometimes has her head in the clouds. This Monday, it is however a clear sky which was observable in Rotherham. Especially above the head of Corinne Deacon. Because the cloud “succession of Katoto” seems well and truly dissipated… Euro 2022 Facing the Netherlands, should we believe it? “Les Bleues are almost favourites”13 HOURS AGOEuro 202220 players used out of 23: “For now, Deacon is all good”14 HOURS AGO