Wendie Renard went straight to the dressing room. She was fuming.
Farid Benstiti, Lyon Feminin’s head coach at the time, had taken a then 17-year-old Renard off in the 61st minute, four minutes after the French side had conceded an equaliser in the first leg of a UEFA Women’s Cup (today’s Champions League) semi-final at home against Sweden’s Umea.
It was March 2008.
The teenager tossed a hairdryer across the dressing-room floor and kicked a bin.
“I was really angry — not with anyone else but myself,” Renard tells The Athletic. “It was unacceptable to make that kind of mistake and concede a goal in that way.”
Renard had tried to protect the ball by the corner flag but Brazilian forward Marta picked her pocket. Renard then fell over and Marta cut the ball back to Madelaine Edlund, who levelled the score. Renard felt ashamed and suffered, in her words, “a triple punishment”.
“I lost the ball, we conceded and I was substituted. For a young player, to handle all that, it was not easy. The week after was difficult. I’ve always been very hard on myself. That’s the only way to progress.”
The goal was a precious one to concede, as Lyon were knocked out on the since-scrapped away goals rule after a 0-0 draw in the second leg a week later. The young Renard…
