Wendy Renard announced on social networks that she will no longer wear the jersey of the French football team. The player had so far made 142 selections.
Nobody expected it. Wendy Renard, iconic captain of Olympique Lyonnais, announced at the age of 32 on her social networks on Friday February 24 that she no longer wanted to wear the France team jersey for the moment. The announcement is obviously resounding since the player openly criticized the lack of professionalism “of the current system which is far from the requirements required by the highest level”.
In her message, she also announced that she would give up the Football World Cup which will take place from July 20, 2023 to August 20, 2023 in Australia in New Zealand. The champion had 142 selections to date and was the 10th most capped player in the history of the France team.
find out more
Biography Wendie Renard. Wendie Renard, now one of the most popular football players in France, did not have a childhood like the others. Born on July 20, 1990 in Schoelcher in Martinique, she indeed had the pain of losing, from the age of 8, her father, Georges, victim of lung cancer. A mental strength that was undoubtedly her best ally to manage to make her mark in women’s football, which was not won in advance. After having evolved during her young years in the jersey of several Martinican boys’ clubs, Wendie Renard was indeed rejected, then, at the entrance tests of the prestigious Clairefontaine training center. A failure quickly forgotten since the young woman quickly rebounded in 2006 at Olympique Lyonnais, seduced in particular by her athletic qualities. After a year of adaptation in the reserve team, the Martiniquaise will finally start with the pro group in 2007. The beginning of a long period of prosperity with Les Gones.
What is Wendie Renard’s track record?
Fifteen French championships (from 2007 to 2020 and 2022), 9 French Cup (2008 and from 2012 to 2020), eight Champions League (2011, 2012, from 2016 to 2020 and 2022) without forgetting the Champions Trophy in 2019 : Wendie Renard’s record with Olympique Lyonnais is full. With Les Bleues, the Martiniquaise won the Tournoi de France (2020 and 2022), the Cyprus Cup (2012 and 2014) and the SheBelieves Cup in 2017.
Considered one of the best defenders in the world, Wendie Renard is one of the highest paid players in France. The Martiniquaise receives 37,000 euros gross per month, or just under 450,000 euros gross per year.
Wendie Renard now takes advantage of her tall stature (1.87m) to show herself to be regularly decisive in the penalty area (as evidenced by her two headed goals against South Korea in the opening match of the Cup of the world), Wendy Renard suffered from this atypical physique during her childhood: “I have long perceived my size as my biggest physical flaw, she explained to Liberation in 2017. When I was young, I suffered a lot of teasing. Today, I don’t care, I understood that it was an asset”. The Frenchwoman has indeed scored 23 goals in the national team to date.
In the France team since 2011, Wendie Renard counts on June 23, 2022 131 selections, still far from the 198 capes of Sandrine Soubeyrand. The Blues defender scored 33 times.