This is perhaps the fatal weapon that the Blues lacked to finally win a major international competition. Scorer during the big success against Italy (5-1) in the first match of the French team at the Euro, Marie-Antoinette Katoto confirms her status as a rising star of women’s football. With 26 achievements in 31 selections, the Parisian continues to make an impression with the French team. Often compared to Kylian Mbappé for his precocity and his performance on the pitch, Katoto has seen the commonalities multiply in recent years with the world champion: same age (23 years old), same origin (Paris suburbs) and same club (PSG ). The two athletes even pushed the resemblance to be at the end of the contract to end up extending with the club of the capital.
However, Katoto’s story with Les Bleues started with a few bumps. During the 2019 World Cup organized in France and despite her status as the best hope of the women’s championship, she was not selected by Corinne Deacon. A misunderstanding at the time for many observers of the Blue. “We have a normal coach-player relationship. Each has its own character. I don’t have to give my opinion on his or his way of managing. I take into account the advice she gives me. Everything that has been said around and before is in the past. I look ahead, “explained the player to Parisian a few months after her absence from the World Cup.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto: “We had a good first match. There are several left. We stay calm now! Our only objective for the next match against Belgium will be to take the 3 points. We take no one lightly and we will do what we have to do!” (@TF1) pic.twitter.com/7Ky7PKK8eP
Since then, water has flowed under the bridges, and Katoto has become an indisputable holder at the head of the Blue attack. While her coach had other issues to deal with, including Lyonnaises like Amandine Henry who criticized her overly authoritarian management, the Parisian, for her part, continued to score points. “She’s a great player,” Deacon told RMC Sport before the start of the Euro. We must give him freedom, this carte blanche. The important thing for her is to be in the right place at the right time, and to use the right surface to put the ball in the back of the net. She always wants to, when I take her out she’s not very happy (smile). She gives a lot, she works tirelessly. »
A goalscorer with amazing athletic characteristics, the Parisian has become a reference in world women’s football. She finished 18th at the last Ballon d’Or and can hope to climb the ladder in the coming years in this individual award. Laura Georges, former player of the Bleues, did not fail to praise Katoto’s talent: “In France, it is inevitable that she is the leader at the offensive level. With her game, which you can rely on physically, she is able to score from different angles. It’s an additional asset for our team,” the current secretary general of the FFF told Europe 1.