There were just over 20,000 people in the stands of the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve d'Ascq for the entry of the Bleues into these 2024 Olympic Games. A noisy crowd, which pushed and motivated the French Team.
“It's crazy. Honestly, we didn't think the room would be full for us.” explain Valerian Ayayi. “Because we're girls, because it's Monday… We said to ourselves that, well, they (the Blues) had the chance to play on the first weekend of the Olympic Games and it's full, but it's incredible. Already when we come in… Just in the warm-up, I don't think we've ever run so fast in the warm-up. We feel like they're pushing us, that they're following the game and it's crazy. And it has to continue because that's also what galvanizes us, to go get all the balls that we went to get.”
Same feeling at Dominique Malongaalso impressed by the fervor of the audience present.
“I've already been to Bercy at the Coupe de France but it impresses me more here. It's a really big hall, very wide, there's depth so the dimensions are really enormous. And then we're in France so the crowd is galvanized, they follow us, they chant. The first time you enter the hall to warm up, you're really caught up in this movement so it's very impressive.”
For the Bleues, the anthem was a particularly powerful moment as it was sung in unison by (almost) the entire room. Enough to send shivers down your spine Gabby Williams.
“I almost cried during the Marseillaise” she recognizes. “It was an incredible moment. It was the first match that my family saw of me, live, in the French team. So a lot of emotions for me tonight.”
Interview conducted in Villeneuve d'Ascq
