Wendie Renard says it is France's "time to strike" as they prepare for their Olympic Games opener against Colombia on Thursday.
France are competing in the Olympics for the third time after qualifying as hosts, though they failed to win a medal in either of the previous appearances.
Their best-ever finish came at London 2012, when they finished fourth after conceding a stoppage-time goal in a 1-0 defeat to Canada.
Despite never reaching a major tournament final, Les Bleues are among the favourites to win the gold medal in Paris.
And after regularly reaching the knockout stages of tournaments during Renard's time as captain, she is confident now is the right time for her team to finally get the glory.
"Winning the Olympic gold is the dream," she told The Guardian. "Personally, I rank playing for my country very highly.
"So far it's been a lot of ups and downs, but you learn from the defeats. Life isn't only made up of victories – many winners have fallen again and again before being crowned.
"I hope that our efforts over the years will be rewarded this summer.
"I think there's a bit of fear on the part of the teams we face because we're so well-rounded. But when we look back at the matches in which we were knocked out, we weren't missing a lot. It's the little details that send you home.
"We see that we've fallen behind compared to other countries – even though at one point we were ahead. Now would be the right time to strike, and I say that in all modesty – it would be ideal for us."
France will also face Canada and New Zealand in Group A.
'I love where I am,' says Simeone after 700th game in charge of Atletico
Diego Simeone said he is "calm and at peace" at Atletico Madrid after his side edged Deportivo Alaves 2-1 in LaLiga in his 700th game in charge of the club.
Atletico went behind through a Jon Guridi penalty in the seventh minute, but Antoine Griezmann drew them level from the spot in the 76th minute.
The winner came via Alexander Sorloth in the 86th minute as Atletico moved four points behind leaders Barcelona.
Simeone, who has been in charge of Atletico since 2011, is the first coach to manage 700 matches with the same LaLiga club.
"I live in the present, we are having a good time, the boys are working very responsibly," Simeone told DAZN.
"I am calm and at peace. I love where I am and that's it."
He managed Atletico to LaLiga title triumphs in 2014 and 2021 and also helped Los Rojiblancos win two Europa League titles in 2012 and 2018.
The game against Alaves was Simeone's 492nd LaLiga match in charge, and the Argentine has also managed the third-most games with a single club in the Champions League (109), after Alex Ferguson with Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.
AC Milan 0-0 Juventus: Bianconeri maintain unbeaten start after Rossoneri stalemate
AC Milan and Juventus shared the spoils following a dour goalless draw at San Siro.
The Bianconeri maintained their unbeaten start to the Serie A season, but missed the chance to go second behind leaders Inter after a game lacking in quality and chances.
With the likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik out injured, Juventus began the game without a recognised striker, as Teun Koopmeiners and Weston McKennie led the line.
Koopmeiners hit the side-netting from a tight angle after 10 minutes, while Kenan Yildiz grazed the post following a fine individual run midway through the half.
Alvaro Morata had Milan's best chance at the other end, but the former Juventus striker could only head wide from Rafael Leao's free-kick.
Opportunities did not fall as freely in the second half either, and both teams left the field to a chorus of boos on the referee's final whistle.
Data Debrief: Stubborn Juve take clean sheet tally into double figures
Juve are the first team to register 10 clean sheets in their opening 13 matches of a Serie A season since Roma (also 10) in 2013-14.
The Bianconeri have also kept five clean sheets in their first six away league games in a campaign for only the fourth time, also achieving the feat in 1967-68, 2004-05, 2023-24.
Meanwhile, Thiago Motta is only the fifth Juventus manager to go unbeaten in his first 13 league matches in charge (won six, drawn seven), after Jesse Carver, Cestmir Vycpalek, Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri.
Manchester City 0-4 Tottenham: Guardiola's champions humiliated in fifth straight loss
Manchester City's losing streak stretched to five games across all competitions as Tottenham stunned the Premier League champions with a 4-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium.
On his 28th birthday, James Maddison scored twice in the first 20 minutes as Ange Postecoglou's visitors caught out their hosts on the counterattack.
Maddison was found unmarked at the far post by Dejan Kulusevski for his opener, then exchanged passes with Son Heung-min and dinked a fine finish over Ederson for his second.
City continued to dominate possession but struggled to find a killer pass, and their hopes of a second-half fightback were dashed when Pedro Porro – who spent three years as a City player between 2019 and 2022 – capped another lightning break early in the second half.
Erling Haaland clipped the crossbar but that was as close as City came to making it competitive, with Brennan Johnson completing the rout following fine work from Timo Werner, as the worst run of Pep Guardiola's managerial career continued.
Second-placed City could now find themselves eight points adrift of the summit after Liverpool’s trip to Southampton on Sunday.
Tottenham, meanwhile, climbed to sixth in the table, four points behind City.
Data Debrief: Uncharted territory for Pep
City have now lost five straight matches in all competitions, including two versus Tottenham after they were also beaten in the EFL Cup last month.
They are the first reigning top-flight English champions to lose five games in a row since Chelsea did so in March 1956.
This is the worst losing streak of Guardiola's glittering managerial career, with City last losing six in a row under Stuart Pearce in 2006.
Should their dismal run continue at Liverpool in eight days' time, their title defence may be in tatters before the festive season has even begun.
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