Caroline Drouin’s ordeal with Les Bleues against New Zealand

Nobody would have liked to find themselves in Caroline Drouin’s shoes in the 80th minute of breathless France and New Zealand. Fate had generously pushed the emotional cover of Les Bleues’ first half by assigning him the responsibility of awarding the win to his team with a penalty kick from 35 metres, just to the right of the struts.

Led by one point, the French team can rely only on the right foot of Rennaise. Hundreds of Tricolor supporters held their breaths, as if to make up for Eden Park’s deafening whistles. But it wasn’t enough. After spending 80 minutes on the field, Darwin missed her shot and put away the superhero costume she could have worn so proudly.

After the meeting, her partners followed each other to relieve her guilt, which she did not fail to impose on herself. “At no time does defeat remain with Caro, Center slide Gabriel Werner. We haven’t done the job before. We should have killed the match and carried the ball more. We didn’t make many mistakes. »“This is not Caro’s fault,Aniel Deshai’s column abounds. eShe gave us ten last week, and now we’re missing one, we can’t blame her. We win together, we lose together. »

Just before the attempt, a small meeting took place between Darwin and his captain, Gael Hermit. “Before the penalty kick, I told him that whatever happened, we were together until the end, He trusts the latter. We were together from the first to the eighties. It is the DNA and the strength of this group. No matter what happens, whether there is turmoil or moments of joy, we are together all the time. »

Left alone on the grass for a few moments, Darwin stared into space, inevitably focused on that missed match point, but perhaps also her balls were sent straight off the field (26, 34) or that penalty touch was not found (12). The Bleues squad leader, rather than her interest in animation, hasn’t managed the best match of her career on foot, yet one of her strengths, Black Ferns still praised her during the week.

“We can imagine that Caro was very disappointed, Says whore Agath Schat. It’s tough because she took the blame, even though it was the team’s choice. It’s a huge weight on this pitch that sizzles loudly. We can’t blame her. We have to help him raise his head. » Since the beginning of his career, Drouin has already proven his ability to recover after a severe blow. This is the fate of those who have a fate greater than their own in their hands. or at the end of the foot.