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Martinique (France) (AFP)
Wendie Renard is at the top of the world after leading France to a first victory at this year's Women's World Cup, but her story begins with her boys fighting at the foot of Mount Pelee in her native Martinique.
French captain Renard scored two goals at home as Les Bleues beat South Korea 4-0 at Parc des Princes on Friday in a dominant victory against Virgil van Dijk, 28, a Champions League champion.
Its performance in the air was such that it pushed Norway to use his press attaché of 1.9 m (6 feet 5 inches) to recreate his air power before his clash with the French in Nice on Wednesday.
Her talent was also evident in the late 1990s when she showed up at the Essor Prechotin Club, based in Le Precheur, in the northwest of the island.
"Her first game was a under-13 tournament in Bellefontaine (on the island), she was playing with the big boys but she was already a key part of our team, we finished third and Wendie's talent Really stands out, "said Patrick Cavelan. , Cousin de Renard and coach at the club.
At the age of 15, Charlaine Marie-Jeanne, technical director of the Martinique football league, identifies her after a childhood alongside boys and tries to convince her mother, Marie-Helena Renard, to let her join the Football Academy. French overseas, Le François, on the other side. side of the island.
"I did not agree at first and I did not see football as a women's sport," said Marie-Helena.
Only daughter of the academy, Renard quickly impressed his male counterparts.
"Technically, she was at the same level as us," said Gregory Pastel, who was in his clbad.
"She competed with us without any problem."
Another clbadmate, Jeremy Mongis, said that at first, the boys were asking themselves: "It's a girl, what is she doing there?" but she quickly became a member of the group … However, she had a cloakroom just for her. "
In 2005, she left her male-only environment to join the women's team of the island, RC Lorrain, impressive enough to have a chance the following year with Lyon, where she has since won all the titles that the game must offer … except the World Cup.
"The person I knew at 14 is still the same at 29. We laugh, we talk, we speak Creole," said Mongis.
His cousin Cavelan also does not see much to the girl who impressed him so much in his debut.
"When she comes back, she goes to see all the old people that she knows in the neighborhood, she walks barefoot, she goes jogging by the sea," he says.
"She has not forgotten where she comes from."
? AFP 2019
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