France on Friday eked out victory in their final warm-up for the FIFA Women’s World Cup when they beat China 2-1 in Creteil in the Paris suburbs.
France won without several of their regular starters, including captain Amandine Henry, striker Eugenie Le Sommer and a third Olympique Lyonnais star, Amel Majri.
France open their campaign against South Korea on Friday next week and viewed China as presenting similar problems. China kick off their campaign the next day against another European power, Germany.
France took the lead after 30 minutes, when striker Valerie Gauvin found herself in the right place after a shot from Marion Torrent was blocked.
After that the hosts created few chances as China presented a tougher test than Thailand, who France beat 3-0 in their previous match.
Defender Wang Shanshan leveled after 52 minutes, set up by Paris Saint-Germain playmaker Wang Shuang.
France’s best attacking player, Kadidiatou Diani, a PSG left-winger, rescued the hosts with an unstoppable shot six minutes later.
“We responded well,” French coach Corinne Diacre said.
“It’s already better than last week,” she said. “And I hope it’s not as good as next week.”
Henry added to France’s injury problems earlier in the day.
“It was a surprise for me too, I must confess that I would have done without it this morning,” Diacre said. “She’s fine, she’s better, she just locked her back this morning when she woke up.”
“Considering how she was walking, I think it would have been difficult for her to run tonight,” Diacre added.
She said that the injuries to Henry, Le Sommer and Majri suggest that France could be paying for Lyon’s success in winning the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
“There are three Lyon women, long season. Women who have played in every competition. We would have done without it, but now we’re dealing with it,” Diacre said.
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