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Kadidiatou Diani, double scorer against Thailand, May 25, 2019. FRANCK FIFE / AFP

For their penultimate warm-up match at the World Cup, Corinne Deacon's Bleues defeated Thailand (3-0) on Saturday (May 25th) in Orleans. Without their best players left to rest, the French footballers won with a goal from Elise Bussaglia (61) and a double from Kadidiatou Diani (78th, 86th), but missed two penalties. They still have a warm-up match against China next Friday.

Two weeks before the World Cup (June 7 - July 7), the French women's team was testing against Thailand this Saturday, May 25 in Orleans. Coach Corinne Deacon spoke of a " training match ". " We will not be in our best shape, we will dig a little, but the main thing is to work and make efforts, " she warned.

Apart from Amandine Henry and her Lyon teammates who won the Champions League, the Blue have been reunited since May 9 and come out of intense physical preparation, with sometimes three training sessions per day.

Heavy legs and moral steel

For their penultimate warm-up match at the World Cup, the Blue Corinne Deacon, with fatigue, dominated their opponent (3-0). If Grace Geyoro and Ève Périsset missed two penalties, the entry of the substitutes - including Kadidiatou Diani, double scorer (78th, 86th) - did them the greatest good. Elise Bussaglia scored the first goal of the game in the second half (61st). This is his 30th goal in 187 caps.

Without many players-executives in the starting lineup (Le Sommer, Henry, Bouhaddi, Mbock, Fox, Diani, Majri), the French have dominated very largely in terms of possession and opportunities

" We knew how to win this game when we knew we were not at the top today. Today, girls have made efforts, we won and that's a good thing, "responded Corinne Deacon at the microphone of W9. " We wanted to show our true game even if we had heavy legs ," said the attacker Kadidiatou Diani.

This sold-out match in Orleans once again allowed us to gauge the growing popularity of this World Cup at home. The French team will start its World Cup on June 7 against South Korea at the Parc des Princes, before facing Norway and Nigeria (June 12 and 17).