Nadia Benmokhtar calls on the French to be careful against Jamaica, a “very athletic team”

As the French women’s soccer team launches its World Cup against Jamaica on Sunday 23 July at 12:00, Nadia Benmokhtar, football consultant for Radio France, urges franceinfo les Bleues to be careful. She explains “beware of this game” in Sydney and fears it is “a trap because Jamaica is a very athletic team, they put a lot of speed”. “Even if France is on the card above, we will have to put a maximum level of intensity from the start so as not to get trapped”warns the former footballer.

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Nadia Benmokhtar reminds that a first World Cup match is always very important, because “set the tone for the future” of the competition. He therefore recommends to French women “so as not to get into trouble before the second match against Brazil” on July 29, especially since Brazilian women are the “Second Favorite of the Group” f. “We have to take points today to face the match against Brazil as a match we can already qualify for, rather than a ruthless match”explains the football consultant.

The former high-level player judges the Azzurri’s squad “Interesting” for this World Cup with the presence among its ranks “experienced players and younger players”. He notices it “a lot of uncertainty, because the staff took up their duties only a few weeks ago and didn’t have much time to prepare”. Even Nadia Benmokhtar regrets that many “executive players are injured, like [l’attaquante] Delfina Cascarino and [la milieu] Amandine Henry. “Since 2011, in every competition, we expect them to be favorites and winners, and since the level of expectation is much lower, we are hoping for some nice surprises”says the football adviser.

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Nadia Benmokhtar claims that Les Bleues, who “they are ambitious”, they still have every chance for this World Cup. She believes it “if the French team wants to win, it will go through a very strong collective and emulation”. “We will talk about a successful World Cup if they reach the semi-finals”, she says. The former footballer has not noticed this since the beginning of this World Cup “a truly outstanding team”. He mentions it “USA favourites, British favourites, too, but struggled to win in game one”.