With the Rio 2016 Olympics being just six days away, the French Women's National Team will face their first match against Colombia in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. According to FIFA rankings, France is the third ranked team with their biggest competitors being the US, ranked number one and Germany number two. Columbia is currently ranked number 24. The French, who are referred to being called the Les Blues, are placed in Group G along with Columbia, New Zealand, and the USA. France hasn't faced Columbia since last year's Women's World Cup when Columbia won 2-0.
Coach's choice of players
Head coach Philippe Bergeroo has most of his players coming from two French club teams. Nine players are from Olympique Lyonnais and five from Paris Saint-Germain. He also has 16 players who have already competed in this past summer's World Cup and know the intensity of the games.
Eugenie Le Sommer and Louisa Necib, the dynamic duo
Forward Eugenie Le Sommer has had 52 goals in 116 caps. The 27-year-old forward has incredible speed on the field, which helps her to outrun the defense as she uses her creative footwork to make so many of her shots reach the back of the net. Le Sommer and midfielder Louisa Necib have a pretty consistent playing style where both play off of each other to create a strong offense.
The heart and soul of France's midfield
France has 24 players on their roster, including midfielder Louisa Necib, who is often referred to as the heart and soul of the French midfield. Necib will definitely contribute to being an important asset to the team as she has 34 international goals with 135 caps.
France tournament history
In the 2011 Women's World Cup, France finished in fourth place in this tournament. The following year, in March of 2012, France participated in the Cyprus Cup and took the Championship title of the tournament. That summer, the team qualified for the 2012 Olympics for the first time and took fourth place.
Columbia and France past matches
In the 2012 Olympic tournament, France won against Columbia 1-0. Last summer in the 2015 Women's World Cup, France and Columbia faced each other in a group stage and Columbia had a victory of 2-0. Bergeroo, coach of the French team shared his thoughts about their loss to Columbia:
"There were numerous aspects that weren't quite right. We weren't accurate enough with our passes at key moments. Despite that, we still created chances, but their goalkeeper had a great match."
With France and Columbia each having a victory against each other in tournaments, it will be interesting to see which team will come out on top during this Olympic tournament. Be sure to tune in this Wednesday, August 3 as the two teams will be one of the first games played at the start of the road to Rio.