This is the question that Raphaël Reynaud, the coach of the French futsal team, has been asking himself over the past few months. "It's always tricky to come out of a competition and refocus," admits the man who has been in charge of Les Bleus since 2021. After qualifying for and finishing a historic fourth at the 2024 World Cup, the key was not to rest on our laurels: "We took a quick look back and immediately focused on areas for improvement and the next round. What helped us get going again was focusing all our analysis on the content, more than on the results. That was a lifesaver," continues the former Haute-Loire Technical Development Counsellor, who admits to experiencing a huge void after the three months of preparing for the World Cup. "I had prepared everything for the competition: before, during... but not at all for the aftermath and its recovery phase." For several months now, the coach and his staff have been "putting all the areas for improvement back on the table for their team to look to the future: offensive set pieces, invisible or post-training preparation, the structural approach to the game." This is enough to definitively turn the page on the World Cup and launch the Blues towards their new objective: Euro 2026.
Brief
Raphaël Reynaud, head coach of the French National Futsal team / ©Icon Sports