Defender Wendie Renard praised her team-mates and French fans after her brace helped lead France to a 4-0 win over South Korea in the opening game of the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Hosts France wasted little time in showing their status as one of the tournament’s favourites in the opener, as Eugenie le Sommer put Les Bleus up 1-0 on nine minutes.
Renard then helped put the match beyond doubt in the first half, scoring on a pair of corner kicks in the 35th minute and in first-half stoppage time to make it 3-0 France.
Amandine Henry capped off the scoring with a beautiful shot from distance late in the second half to ensure the French supporters went home happy.
And while the circumstances of playing in front of the home fans in a World Cup opener could have proved overwhelming, Renard was pleased with how her team-mates responded to the occasion.
“We knew very well that we would take a breath of emotions tonight,” Renard said. “We managed well, when we have 45,000 people singing La Marseillaise, we can only transcend. We have used the fans to make a good start.
“In World Cup, I have never scored. It’s really good on a personal level. Collectively these are very important goals just before half-time.”
France head coach Corinne Diacre took a measured response after the victory, noting her squad still has a long way to go to claim the title and in the meantime must keep themselves grounded.
“It’s been a while since we put things in place, I had that luxury to do what I wanted with this group and take it where I wanted to go,” Diacre said. “This is only one step, there are six more to go to the end. We must keep our feet on the ground.
“I refused all emotion tonight, it will be for later. I had to be in the competition, I prepared myself as a player. I hope there will be emotions as late as possible.”
France are next in action against Norway on June 12, before closing out group stage play against Nigeria on June 17.
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