(Reuters) – France captain and defender Wendie Renard says her side “can achieve something great” this time at the Women’s World Cup having not been effective enough in past tournaments.
France will take part in their fifth Women’s World Cup this month but they have been eliminated in the quarter-finals at the last two and their best result was fourth back in 2011.
“We haven’t got past the quarter-finals because we weren’t quite effective enough at critical moments,” Renard, 32, said in an interview on the FIFA website.
“As long as everyone has the same vision and a willingness to pull in the same direction, then we can achieve something great.”
Herve Renard, 54, took over the job as France women’s coach in March when former manager Corinne Diacre’s position had become untenable after Wendie Renard said she would not play at the World Cup to preserve her mental health.
Olympique Lyon’s Renard, widely considered one of the best defenders in the women’s game, returned to the squad shortly after the appointment of the former Saudi Arabia men’s coach.
“He’s a coach with a lot of experience who has won at international level and is also charismatic,” she said.
Herve Renard took Zambia’s men’s team to the African Nations title in 2012 before repeating the feat with Ivory Coast three years later.
“We expect him to bring a lot of this experience to the role, given that he’s won major titles,” she added.
Wendie Renard said that the tournament would be an opportunity for players to show that they have the right to wear the national colours and represent France.
“You need to have a certain consistency in your performances,” she said. “As soon as you pull on this shirt, you have to honour it and defend it to the hilt.”
France begin their campaign in Group F against Jamaica on July 23 before facing Brazil and Panama.
The ninth edition of the Women’s World Cup is being hosted by New Zealand and Australia, with the final scheduled for Aug. 20 in Sydney.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)
