From BZ/dpa
There’s no other woman like her in club football – 15-time French champion, nine-time cup winner and eight-time Champions League winner with Olympique Lyon, most recently in May in a 3-1 win against FC Barcelona.
Not only because of this, but also because of her 1.87 meters, France’s captain Wendie Renard stands out from Germany’s semi-final opponent (Wednesday / 8.45 p.m. / ARD) at the European champions in England.
“She is an absolute leader. We have to defend her well from set pieces because she has a good header. “We’ll prepare specifically for that,” said German midfielder Sara Däbritz, who will be a Renard club colleague after moving from Paris Saint-Germain to Lyon.
Outstanding: France’s Wendie Renard in the quarterfinals against the Netherlands Photo: picture alliance
After the home World Cup in 2019, when the French lost in the quarter-finals to eventual title winners USA, the defense chief was in a clinch, like so many others from her team, with national coach Corinne Diacre and was no longer captain. But in England it has long been the “control tower” again, as it is nicknamed. And the radio signals are clear: Renard finally wants to get a title with “Les Bleues”.
At the 2011, 2015 and 2019 World Cup, the 2013 and 2017 European Championships and the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, France went away empty-handed. “The past is part of my story and also part of the selection. It’s up to us to change that,” says Martinique-born Renard.