France beat Iceland in Women's World Cup qualifying

Jonathan Roorda - 24 October 2009 20:51

Elodie Thomis of France battles with several Iceland defenders. Photo © Joël Philippon

Things are looking good for France in the qualifying campaign for the 2011 Women's World cup, following a vital 2-0 victory over Iceland on Saturday.

France and Iceland are considered the best teams in Europe's Group 1 and as winners of this match, the French have everything in their favor despite the large amount of games left to be played in this campaign.

'Les Bleues' took the lead after 23 minutes at Lyon's Stade de Gerland. At the end of a counter-attack, a through-ball allowed Gaëtane Thiney to beat keeper Helgadottir with a low diagonal shot from the right.

Iceland then suffered a major blow in the 34th minute when forward Margret Vidarsdottir couldn't play on as result of a muscle strain. The 23-year-old was replaced with Erla Arnardottir.

France continued to dominate in the second half and doubled their lead in the 79th minute as Elodie Thomis performed a great finish after a high pass from Louise Necib.

The close to nine thousand fans that attended the match, witnessed another highlight as veteran Sandrine Soubeyrand substituted Camille Abily near the full time whistle and equaled the record of caps earned by a player of any French national team. Until this moment, former men's defender Lilian Thuram was the sole record-holder.

France and Iceland share the group lead with six points each, but the French have a game in hand and face Estonia in their next qualifier on Wednesday. Later that evening, Iceland play away to Northern Ireland.