Athlete stars' words have significance, says Kadidiatou Diani.
Tonight, the French attacking ace wants to defeat Sweden and send a politically divided nation to the European Championship.
I still see a fairly positive future for France, says Diani.
In two weeks, the Olympics in Paris will begin, and France's women's football team dreams of a gold medal on home soil.
But first, a European Championship spot must be secured, preferably tonight against Sweden. Stade Gaston Gérard in Dijon is sold out, a win would send France to the European Championship 2025, otherwise, there will be another chance when the qualifiers conclude against Ireland on Tuesday.
Mbappé's call to action
And perhaps the sporting successes are needed more than usual.
Both football teams, the women's and men's, are important, because we represent this country. We are proud of this country. And we want to continue being proud of this country, says France's national team coach Hervé Renard ahead of the match against Sweden.
He says this in connection with the political turmoil in the country – which has also affected the French national football team.
After the far-right party National Rally's (RN) successes in the EU elections in early June, President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament and called for new elections.
In the first round of voting, RN became the largest party again, which prompted the French men's national team's biggest star Kylian Mbappé to react. At a press conference during the European Championship, he issued a call to all French people ahead of the second round of voting.
We cannot leave our country in the hands of these people. It's really urgent. We saw the results of the first round, it's catastrophic. And we really hope that it will change and that everyone mobilizes to vote for the right side, said Mbappé.
Maybe it had an effect. In the second round of the parliamentary elections, the left-wing alliance New People's Front became the big winner, while National Rally unexpectedly did not become the largest party.
"People listen to us"
Lyon attacker Kadidiatou Diani, one of the biggest French stars on the women's side, believes that sports role models have the power to influence public opinion.
As players, we know that people listen to us. Our words carry weight. And now, after the election, I personally see a fairly positive future for France, says Diani.
National team coach Hervé Renard shares the feeling. The second round of voting instilled optimism.
Personally, I don't think the first round of voting was a step in the right direction, but it's just my personal conviction, says Renard.
Now I hope that people can focus on our upcoming match and the Olympics. After the result of the second round of voting, I believe that most of the French people will have the opportunity to focus on something else.
