France coach Renard looks towards Olympics after World Cup exit
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France coach Herve Renard promised his side would «come back stronger» after their elimination from the Women's World Cupon penalties against Australia on Saturday.
Les Bleues suffered a third consecutive exit from the WorldCup in the quarter-finals as they went down 7-6 in the shoot-out to the hosts after an engrossing tie in Brisbane finished goalless at the end of extra time.
But Renard insisted his team could not have done anything more following a remarkable shoot-out which saw both teams take 10 penalties, with France crucially failing to convert four of theirs.
Cortnee Vine converted the decisive kick to take the Matildas through.
«I would like to congratulate my players for playing so well against an entire nation. I cannot reproach them for anything,» said Renard, who will now lead the team in their search for gold at next year's Paris Olympics.
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Football«Next year we will be at home, we still have a chance to win something.»
The 54-year-old Renard was only appointed four months ago after a player mutiny led to the sacking of his predecessor Corinne Diacre.
He left his job as coach of the Saudi Arabian men's team to take over a side in disarray and turned them into genuine contenders in Australia, providing a platform on which they can build at the Olympics.
France will hope the Paris Games will be where they finally win a major women's international tournament.
«I have lost competitions on penalties before but I am proud of the players, the staff and the president of the federation,» said Renard, who also won Africa Cup of Nations finals on penalties as coach of Zambia and the Ivory
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