World Cup 2019 in France? Postponed by Corinne Deacon. Olympic Games Tokyo 2021? The Blues failed to qualify. Euro 2022 in England? Double injury to the meniscocruciate ligament of the right knee after two matches. World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand? Insufficient discount. Marie Antoinette Catoto’s history with the French national team is partly related to these missed meetings. In 2024, the PSG striker has no time to waste and is aiming for glory in the blue jersey at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, a few kilometers from her hometown of Colombes (Hautes-de-Seine).
We will sum up his year around August 10, the day of the final of the Olympic tournament at the Parc des Princes. Meanwhile, the one everyone simply calls Marie is doing everything possible to achieve her collective and personal goals. She will be looking to secure Les Bleu’s narrow 1-0 win over Ireland in Metz on Friday night to open Euro 2025 qualifying. The only scorer of the match, she made a superb appearance at the far post to intercept Mael Lakrar’s deflected shot and register her 28th haul from 36 rebounds (27 starts). That’s a hell of a sum, and one would wonder if it wouldn’t have been even higher without all the troubles Katoto had with the French team.
“Calmer, more open,” she grows through challenges.
But now is not the time to feel sorry for the 25-year-old. The smile on her face since she returned to the field last fall has never left her. “I think she has changed for the better since the injury,” says a close friend of the PSG dressing room. She had never looked so happy. She seems much calmer, more open. » Reticent, sometimes to the extreme, Marie Katoto overcame difficulties, including at her club, where the news of the last three years has been intense, to say the least. “We are a group, a team, and I think we see that. There are times when it really helps us,” she said after a superb 3-0 win over Hacken at the Parc des Princes.
This season, the striker has also quickly established her ability to return to a high level after a serious knee injury saw her sidelined for 15 months. She has 17 goals in 19 matches for PSG in all competitions. Almost the same ratio. “I had and still have a lot of influence, which I expected a little bit (…) I was patient and continued to work, and I hope that this period will end, especially when I see what I did tonight,” she said on 28 March after scoring in the Champions League. Katoto will now hope to achieve more at Les Bleus (2 goals in 4 games since his return in early December), where coach Hervé Renard has full confidence in him.
See you on Tuesday in Sweden
In a 4-4-2 with Eugenie Le Sommer, in a 4-3-3 surrounded by strikers like Delphine Cascarino or Kadidiatou Diani, number 12 (she left number 9 Le Sommer) can do everything. Useful as a back-to-goal fulcrum in depth on set-pieces, Marie Katoto will be essential if the Blues are to secure a first medal or even a first title in their history. Once the “reaction” is over, the bombardier is ready. The next big meeting will take place on Tuesday evening in Sweden. Before a crazy end to the season with PSG, between a French Cup final, a Champions League semi-final and a league title to fight for. What if 2024 rhymed with Katoto?
Source: Le Parisien
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have a keen interest in sports and have written for many different publications. I am currently working as an author at 24 News Recorder. I cover mostly sports news but also write about other topics such as current affairs and politics. I have a strong interest in social media and how it can be used to engage with audiences.
