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WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP: Les Bleues out in Africa

/noticias.info/ Bruno Bini had a mixed first year as France coach but is looking forward to starting 2008 with two interesting tests in Morocco and against Canada ahead of the resumption of UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009TM qualifying.

Qualifying run
Bini took over from Elisabeth Loisel with France having missed out on the FIFA Women's World Cup, and made a good start with Les Bleues beating China, finishing fourth at the Algarve Cup and defeating Greece and Slovenia 6-0 in their opening European qualifiers. However, a 1-0 loss in Iceland in June dented their hopes of reaching the Finland-hosted finals without recourse to a play-off, but an 8-0 win in Serbia and 2-0 victory in Slovenia restored morale. And it also took France three points clear, Iceland having suffered a shock loss to Slovenia but still having a game in hand.

Morocco welcome
Still, Bini knows that if his side win in Greece on 23 April and then produce home victories against Serbia and Iceland in their remaining Group 3 games, first place will be theirs, and they will warm up for the first of those fixtures with a trip to Morocco on Saturday and meeting with Canada in Evry six days later. The game in Casablance marks International Women's Day, and Bini said:"They have offered us a very warm welcome and I think this is the first time a French women's national team has played in Africa. However, we don't really know the ability of Morocco on the pitch, unlike Canada which is a big football nation. These two games will allow me to assess my players, to try out more girls and to give more time to some of them. All this is great preparation for our next competitive games." notas_de_prensa_archivo