Lyon (AFP)

It had only happened once so far, 16 years ago: two coaches will be on the bench in the finals of the World Women's Soccer Sunday in Lyon, a rarity in a still predominantly male.

Jill Ellis of the US and Sarina Wiegman of the Netherlands, with similar trajectories, hope not to be the exception. To trace a tactical opposition 100% female at this stage of the competition, we must go back to 2003 and the victory of the German Tina Theune on the Swedish Marika Domanski-Lyfors.

Prior to that date, only gentlemen had officiated for the first three editions of the Women's World Cup.

"I am very happy to be in the finals, Jill also," said Sarina Wiegman, who was named head of the women's team in the Netherlands in January 2017, with a European championship title .

- "To impose oneself" -

"Let's make more efforts to nominate women to the top positions in international football, women must have the courage to stand up, take risks and take the jobs that are now available to them. as women, we have to show our talent, "she said.

Their common presence in the final is still a sham. At the World Cup-2019, only nine out of twenty-four selections were led by women (South Africa, Germany, Scotland, United States, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Thailand).

In the French league, the proportion is even lower. At the beginning of the past season, there were only two coaches (PFC and Rodez) on the sidelines of the women's D1.

Sunday's final in Lyon, the European capital of women's football, will be quite symbolic.

It also involves two protagonists in the mirror paths, drawn in the United States, a country precursor in the democratization of women's football.

Born in Portsmouth and raised in Cowplain, England, Jill Ellis (52) settled with her parents in Manassas, North Carolina (USA), in 1981. At 14, without really knowing what is her position on a field, that she dress for the first time a football jersey, before quickly becoming essential in the selections of young people.

She built her entire life in the United States, becoming an American citizen, and after some experience on the university teams benches, will be propelled to the head of the national team on May 16, 2014.

- Ellis and Pozzo -

Like Ellis, who before turning to football had to go through the practice of field hockey and netball, two of the few collective sports where women's competitions were structured in England of the 1970s, Sarina Wiegman (49) had to fight to find a place in boys' teams, in the streets of The Hague, during his childhood.

While she managed to join the national team of "Oranje" for the international tournament of Fifa in China in June 1988, she was spotted by the then US coach Anson Dorrance, who invited him to spend a year in the United States at Tar Heels (1989/90), North Carolina (as Jill Ellis).

Wiegman draws her ideas from the game, she will focus on developing once back home and even more since joining the staff of "Oranje" women, from 2014 as an assistant, then as a coach in 2017.

"I was a player myself, I played in the US I have a great sense of the collective, it's very important to play together (...) In American culture, it's all about it's a different culture in the Netherlands, if you want to win, you have to fight on foot, to position yourself, you really have to go to great lengths, fight to score, "he warned. the Dutch technician in the week at a press conference.

Wiegman led the reigning European champions, the Dutch, to their first World Cup final this year. For her part, Ellis could become Sunday the first coach to win two World Cup finals of rank. Only the Italian Vittorio Pozzo did the same with the "Nazionale" gentlemen in 1934 and 1938.

? 2019 AFP