World Cup: France with fresh spring under Herve Renard

Half an hour before France are due to train at their flash facilities in north-western Sydney, there's one man on the pitch having the time of his life ahead of the World Cup.

Herve Renard is out there playing football tennis with three of his staff, that charming grin beaming permanently across his face as an outstretched boot knocks the ball over the net to win a point.

This is the new France. A relaxed, welcoming, but fiercely competitive environment which is epitomized by the coach. He's making football fun again after a dark few years under his predecessor. And it's rubbing off on the team.

"We just need to take it easy, stay relaxed," he told a press conference after his side lost 1-0 to Australia in a final warm-up match.

"The most important thing is to keep our minds straight for the competition."

France have one of the most talented squads in the world, not just in the starting 11, but also on the bench. Lyon have been a European powerhouse for the past decade, winning eight of the last 13 Champions League titles.

And yet, Les Bleues have never made an international final, neither at the European Championships nor the World Cup. For whatever reason, they've never managed to click at a major tournament, even disappointingly going out in the quarter-finals of their home World Cup in 2019.

"We know we are talented but we never reached higher than the semi-finals," striker Clara Mateo told DW. "We're eager to win this World Cup, we've been working very hard since the beginning of our camp. But obviously we've been missing something, because we've never won [a tournament]."

Renard could well be that missing something.

Passion trumps money as Renard jumps Saudi ship

The coach is well-versed in international men's football, having led both Zambia and Ivory Coast to the Africa Cup of Nations title, before taking Morocco to the 2018 World Cup for the first time in two decades. Last December, he even inspired an unheralded Saudi Arabia side to a shock 2-1 victory over Argentina at the men's World Cup in Qatar.

So when Renard announced his decision to swap from men's to women's football and take the reigns of France, there was more than a hint of shock, including amongst those closest to him.

Renard took a massive salary cut — reportedly 15 times less than his wage with the Saudis — with the dangling carrot of taking charge of a World Cup and a home Olympic Games within the space of a year perhaps too tempting to turn down.

Saudi Arabia's loss is undoubtedly France's gain. Renard oozes calm and charisma and has placed full trust in his staff and players in order to lift the atmosphere around the whole camp.

"He brings us his experience and he's very charismatic," Mateo said. "He's pushing us to be better and I really think we will improve thanks to him."

Coaching change a "revolution"

Under the reign of Corinne Diacre, there was a constant stream of reports emerging about discord within the playing group. And the mood wasn't just dissonant amongst the players, it spread to other departments as well.

The media was viewed with an air of distrust, with players kept under a tight leash and journalists starved of any access. But eventually, the leaks emerged, as scandal after scandal rocked Diacre's reign.

She clashed with France's top stars, including captain Wendie Renard, midfield maestro Amandine Henry, and goal machine Eugenie Le Sommer. Eventually, after several top players refused to play under the 48-year-old, she was sacked in March this year, just months from the World Cup.

Now, under the tenure of Herve Renard, the atmosphere appears to have actively improved. Conditions are more relaxed, there's less distrust, and the players have all returned to the international fold. One French reporter described the coaching change as a "revolution".

Good vibes dampened by injury woes

But yet, all isn't perfect ahead of France's opener against Jamaica.

Two of France's best forwards, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Delphine Cascarino, were ruled out of the World Cup with knee injuries, while Henry was sidelined with a calf problem in the pre-tournament training camp.

Add Selma Bacha's injury during the last seconds of France's recent loss to Australia and France are missing four key players before a ball has been kicked. But nothing seems to stress Renard out.

"Sometimes when you lose a game you always think it's a bad thing. But sometimes it's a good alert," he said.

"It's only a preparation game. Sometimes you can lose the first game of a World Cup and still be champions of the world."

It's difficult to have ambitions of winning the trophy with so many high-quality casualties. But thanks to the team's incredible depth in talent, as well as Renard's coaching revolution, no one will be writing off the French just yet.

Edited by James Thorogood