In the semi-finals of the European Football Championship, the DFB team has to hold their own against France. And above all against one: Wendie Renard. The captain is more than just a central defender. With a height of 1.87 meters, she impresses with standards and as a leader. But there is a flaw.
15 league titles, nine cup wins, eight European Cups: Wendie Renard is one of the biggest stars that European football has to offer. And not just because of her impressive height of 1.87 meters, with which she towers over every other player at this European Championship in England. The Frenchwoman is only missing one thing, she has never been so close: a title with the national team. Always co-favourites, the French have never made it into a final.
Three years ago, Renard's dream almost died forever. After the World Cup in her own country, where the team was eliminated in the quarter-finals by the eventual world champions from the USA, she fell out with coach Corinne Diacre, who took over the team in 2017. The coach, who caused a stir in 2014 for taking over a two-league men's team with Clermont Foot, is considered to be extremely difficult. The relationship with the players is not ideal, to say the least. She is said to be stubborn and authoritative. In the case of Renard, association president Noel de Graet organized a debate, the defender from Olympique Lyon received her captaincy back and now has a chance at the longed-for title.
She is one of the few of an older generation blessed with talent who still has the chance. In 2011 she played her first international match for the senior national team and has seen many players come and go. Goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi ended her national team career after the 2019 World Cup because the mood was "very, very negative". The stars Amandine Henry and Eugénie Le Sommer were no longer considered by Diacre. "Do I see the relationship of trust between the coach and the team broken? Unfortunately yes," Henry said in 2019. And Bouhaddi said before the EM: "I could bet my hands that France won't win the EM as long as Diacre is in charge."
Perhaps the national team around Renard is now proving the opposite to her. To do this, the French must defeat the DFB team in the semifinals (Wednesday, 9 p.m. on ZDF and ntv.de live ticker). And the Germans need to control this team, which is mainly made up of players from Olympique Lyon and Paris St. Germain, including Renard. Not only is she a top central defender with a lot of vision who has been nicknamed "the control tower". She also has incredible composure on the ball and lots of speed.
Above all, however, it is also extremely dangerous in standard situations. "It's true that I like to roam around in the opponent's penalty area - I'm not called Renard for nothing," she once said. With her size, the player, who has just turned 32, is extremely strong in the air and difficult to defend. Air supremacy usually belongs to Renard.
The German team knows that too. "Of course we adjusted to it," said assistant coach Britta Carlson. "I don't know whether you can always defend everything, we want to allow as few standards as possible." This includes penalties, for which Renard is also responsible. And in this tournament so far made her probably only serious mistake. In the third group game against Belgium - the place in the quarter-finals was already certain - the captain had the great opportunity to make everything clear with the score 2-1. But Belgium goalkeeper Nicky Evrard not only parried the ball, but Renard also missed her opportunity to take a shot. She then lay on the lawn with her hands clasped over her head and was annoyed with herself.
A mistake is a rarity for the 32-year-old, she is the absolute leader of her young team. Usually one of Renard's absolute specialties is to assert himself. She has already scored 33 goals as a central defender in 135 international matches. The experience distinguishes her, it is her third European Championship, she has also been to three World Championships and two Olympic Games. And it is also her way to professional football that proves her assertiveness.
Renard was born in 1990 on the French overseas department island of Martinique, located in the Atlantic Ocean between Puerto Rico and Venezuela. She was the youngest of four daughters and learned to play soccer with the boys on the beach. Her father died of lung cancer when she was just eight years old, a devastating turning point. She distracted herself with soccer, she once said. When she was asked at school what she wanted to do professionally, she listed professional footballer and flight attendant. Her teacher then explained to her: "This job doesn't exist." But Renard was undeterred. "One day you will see me in this jersey on TV," she once said to her mother while watching a French women's game on TV.
At 14, Renard set out on a journey to live her dream - in mainland France. She had received an invitation to a trial session at France's elite soccer school in Clairefontaine, and that in itself was an ennobling. She was not accepted, but a little later Olympique Lyon contacted the woman, who had traveled more than 8,000 kilometers. In 2006 she received her first contract with Lyon. "It was fate," she once said of her engagement there.
She hasn't left the club since - and there's no reason for her either. She is the captain of one of the best clubs in the world, she became the first footballer in the world to surpass 100 international club matches in April, she also won the French championship and the Champions League this year.
"She is an absolute leader and a role model in the team," said Germany midfielder Sara Däbritz. She will be Renard's teammate from this season, moving to Lyon from PSG within France. "We have to defend them well from set pieces too. But we'll adapt to that." And Carlson even attested to Renard's unspecified "weaknesses". It's difficult to recognize. Only one weakness is obvious: that the title with the national team has not yet worked out. If the DFB team has its way, this flaw should remain.
