France exit Women's World Cup with mix of regret and optimism - ESPN

BRISBANE, Australia — Grace Geyoro could not stop tears coming down her cheeks. As she started to speak just a few minutes after France's heartbreaking exit on penalties against Australia in their Women's World Cup quarterfinal, she couldn't hold her emotions in anymore. On the pitch, the 26-year-old hugged and comforted her teammates after the final whistle. Now, it was her time to let go. So she paused, dried her tears, took a deep breath and tried to make sense of the past 150 minutes or so of her life.

«It hurts a lot,» she told ESPN. «That's football, though. We gave everything. I am so proud of all the girls and of the staff. There is nothing more that I could ask of them. We worked so hard, and today we have a unit. We need to fight now to do better next time. We had chances, we were aggressive, but we lacked a bit of efficiency in front of goals.»

Finally, before leaving with her head down, she added: «The biggest regret is that we lost knowing we gave everything.»

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She should hold her head high. Despite some moments in the match where the French lost their rhythm and their momentum a little as they were put under pressure by Australia, Les Bleues fought hard and could have won the match before it went to penalties. Eugénie Le Sommer even confessed afterward: «I have never lost a game I thought for so long I was going to win.»

In the locker room, France coach Herve Renard had similar words for his squad. Sources have told ESPN that he addressed his players by saying: «You had an exceptional game. I am proud of you and you should be proud of yourselves. What we have achieved here is great and we will build on it for the future.»

After the head coach,