Melvine Malard did not miss her tenure.
Positioned at the forefront of Les Bleues' attack after the withdrawal of the injured Marie-Antoinette Katoto, the Lyon revelation of the year struck a blow on Monday, July 18, against Iceland in the last match of the phase. of hens.
After just 43 seconds, the 22-year-old shook the nets, scoring the fastest goal of this English Euro and becoming, in passing, the youngest French goalscorer in history in this competition.
The right-hander gave an overview of her entry qualities: a subtle delivery behind the support leg for Clara Mateo, a run towards the axis and a shot from the left on a serve from the Paris FC player.
Her celebration for Marie-Antoinette Katoto, the star striker of the selection, whom she has the difficult task of replacing, extended her perfect debut.
"We miss Marie-Antoinette Katoto very much. I wanted to score this evening, and make a dedication to Marie. She is there for us, we are there for her", she reacted after receiving the player of the match trophy .
We will do it for you @Mariekatoto ๐
๐ค๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ฉ'๐จ ๐๐ค ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐คโค๏ธ @WEURO2022 @equipedefrancefrance pic.twitter.com/GNBZNVRNJT
โ Melvine Malard (@MelvineMalard) July 19, 2022
The package of the Parisian center-forward propelled the 22-year-old striker into the spotlight (5 goals in 16 caps), a right-hander placed on the left wing at Olympique Lyonnais (OL).
At Les Bleues, she was used as a center forward by coach Corinne Deacon, seduced by a player who "does not calculate her efforts".
From Reunion to Lyon
Efforts were needed to leave his native island and Saint-Denis FC, his training club, and join OL at 14, far from his mother, his big sister and his little brother.
"Bringing her to France was a radical change for her in terms of culture and mentality. It was not easy without her family. Sometimes she cried, it was cold. It was destabilizing for me", explained Sonia Bompastor, then head of training for OL women, in September 2020.
The current "Fenottes" coach spotted her during an inter-league tournament played with the Reunion Island team in Clairefontaine.
"She came to see me to get in touch with my parents. A week later, when returning to Reunion, my mother received a phone call asking me to come to OL. I have two months to I made the decision in two days. I said to myself, 'Olympique Lyonnais, there's Wendie Renard over thereโฆ'. Yes, of course, yes. I'm 14, I didn't not asked a question", said Melvine Malard for OL Play in 2021.
The teenager then joined the sports section of Saint-Louis-Saint-Bruno, a school in Lyon, first in boarding school, before staying with an older cousin.
"The difficulty I had with boarding school was that they took the phones in the evening. But I needed to call my mother, my family, so it was impossible for me," said the player. to AFP at the time of his first summons.
In Lyon, her captain and "big sister" Wendie Renard took her under her wing, but competition forced her to go into exile on loan to Fleury, in the Paris region, during the 2019-2020 season to save playing time. A click for the triple European champion with OL.
๐ฌ๐ง Melvine Malard, youngest scorer in the history of @equipedefranceF at EURO at 22 years and 20 days.
She clears Louisa Necib (22 years and 213 days) at EURO 2009. #ISLFRA |
#WEURO2022 |
#Malard |
@OLfeminine pic.twitter.com/YiHFnHpQRM
โ UEFA ๐ซ๐ท (@UEFAcom_fr) July 18, 2022
"An instinct player"
"She has made enormous progress in the past two years", both "technically" and in "her ability to be a point of support, as Marie does", remarks Gilles Eyquem, former coach of the U19s with whom Malard won the Euro in the category in 2019. She does not do it "with as much presence" as Katoto, a real nยฐ9, but she brings "a little more fantasy perhaps", he says, convinced that France has found its replacement.
Malard "is able to keep the ball with his back to goal, to direct the game, to take depth", noted Monday Renard, who describes his young teammate as "an instinctive player", more and more "regular" in his performance.
His room for improvement?
"She needs to be 'killer', more aggressive in front of goal. Melvine is really football-pleasure, she should think more about her efficiency even if I saw that she was improving that side," points out Eyquem.
As proof, as So Foot reminds us, during the 2020-2021 season, Lyon coach Jean-Luc Vasseur did not hesitate to trust him after the injuries of holders Ada Hegerberg and Eugรฉnie Le Sommer.
The young player took advantage of this and scored 11 goals in 22 games in all competitions.
At only 22, she has already won four Champions Leagues and two French championship titles with her club.
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In selection, Melvine Malard also shines.
In 2019, the Reunionese finished Euro U19 with the golden shoe of top scorer and a first title with France.
By the way, she had offered herself a double against the Netherlands (3-1).
Saturday in the quarter-finals, she will find the Dutch and their young goalkeeper, Daphne van Domselaar, whom she had beaten three years ago.
After a successful performance against Iceland, coach Corinne Deacon cast doubt on her tenure against the Netherlands, but she did not fail to salute her talent: "Melvine is young, she has shown beautiful things in training. Until now, I had used her more on one side and she has never disappointed us. And that is still the case tonight, with a very good performance, with this goal which almost gave us the victory. She's a talented young player. She doesn't calculate the effort, she gives a lot, and tonight I wanted to return the favor."
With AFP
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