In the mixed zone, Reims Stade coach Amandine Miquel answered some of our questions after this 1-1 draw against Metz on behalf of the 9th day of Women's D2 (Group A). His team who had yet opened the scoring. Miquel wants to keep the positive of this meeting and is satisfied with the game and the state of mind of his team.


You let a little spin this victory. What can you tell me about this meeting?
On the match overall we are happy because we did what we wanted, Metz did what we wanted too, what we had planned so we were in our game plan, we had well anticipated issues that they could ask us. I think we have blocked their strengths, which allowed us to produce more game in my opinion today than they. After we have an exceptional goalkeeper, who has been since the beginning of the season, who made very good saves and who at the end made a mistake there. (sympathetic) We can not say anything we do not want at all because it is one of the best goalkeepers of D2 so we forgive him without problems and it allows Metz to take a small point anyway. We were not going to strip them at home like that (she's looking at Metz coach David Fanzel).


Because we also noticed that you had the impression that you had asked your players to be technical face may be physical or aggressive Metz?
Yes, that's it (she nods) The goal was yes, the instructions were to force them to play long so they could not develop their technical game in the midfield and the instructions was to say that we had a background of also good quality and was going to show them how it was going. We are satisfied on that side, we have a very complete team on all lines and we would have deserved the victory today. It does not matter it will be for the return match.


What did you say to your girls in relation to this equalization after the end of the match in the locker room? They must be frustrated anyway?
Yes of course they are frustrated because we really came to win and convinced we could do it. Since the beginning of the week we work this game and come to win here, it would have been rarely our goal.
So inevitably there is a big frustration. We saw it earlier, that we were almost at the end of our objective finally. We did everything we needed. We lead 1-0, we take the goal, so necessarily that there is frustration. Me what I told them to remember is that in the end we play the leader, we did the game so it will come in the course of the season [the win] if we continue to produce our game. today, there is no reason that it does not smile to us and that we do not go up quickly.


And have not you lacked offensive efficiency also for sheltering you perhaps? What went wrong to let slip this victory?
Less than usual there yet. We know can be procured less opportunities than habits, we were less, finally we were more efficient, usually we hit a dozen before marking one. There we had 4/5 attempts before scoring. Yes it is sure that if we put the two / three actions we have before, it's 2-0, 3-0 and inevitably we are more comfortable for the end of the game. After that if we also have all the weather elements that were for us, because in the first half we had the sun in the eyes, when we go in the second half there is more sun so they do not have the sun in the eyes, then there's the storm coming in and besides you have the headwind so "everything was played" against us. But I think that even beyond that, we could have, we could have made the difference, we deserved better today.


We have the impression at the summer break that you wanted to form a competitive team and aim for this first place and it's complicated for the Stade Reims de ...
I think that the competitor team has trained, we have a recruitment of only five players compared to last season and I think the five players we recruited bring a lot. Here we have recruited in central defense, the great Italian (Spinelli Giorgia), offensively Melissa Gomes it remains a scorer of choice so I think we have nothing to complain about our recruitment and if it was again, we would do the same we are very satisfied with the player we have. After we are fourth, we will slip a little back on this single point taken today.


Maybe the top ranking goal is moving away a little bit today?
It goes away yes and no because I think this team Metz will not go alone in front of long because they lost against Rouen and think there are teams that beat them. Here I hope (smile) at least. To reduce the gap and be able to leave to be a little more room for other teams behind me so I think that this season, it will really be played over time and the team that will be the most complete and which may also be the bench most complete to compensate for injuries, to overcome the period we will arrive now November-December when it is harder. I think we're going to make a difference on that because we have a fairly complete team on every line and a very complete bench.