PARIS, Feb. 27 -- A century of days from now, France will be in the spotlight of world football again, like what they experienced last July.
This time, it will be on women's side. The quadrennial FIFA Women's World Cup will curtain up at the Parc des Princes in Paris on June 7. Fans around the globe can expect another summer bristling with football.
But it has already been filled with footballing atmosphere in France, as the French Football Federation vice president Brigitte Henriques put it, "we are very impatient for the beginning of the World Cup".
Nine host cities unveiled their tournament posters on Wednesday, 100 days ahead of the opening of the footballing extravaganza, through a penalty shootout requiring 100 goals from challengers against the official mascot ettie, who played the role of goalkeeper for the occasion.
Both young and old alike are invited to step up and try to score a very special goal. In taking their spot-kicks in front of a real goal, they will see their efforts shown live and direct on the front of a nearby building, where a digital system will simulate ettie's attempt to save the ball.
In the Forum des Halles, a commercial center in the first arrondissement of the French capital, smile could be seen, encouragement, cheer and applause could be heard from participants during the shootout.
"The difference from all events of men's football that we've organized in France is that we have to look for the spectators, because it's not so natural to have people coming for women's sports," admitted Henriques, a former French international player. "We did a lot to mobilize the host city population participation.
"When I was a player, there was nobody caring about it. We just played in front of 2,000 spectators. Now when the national team is playing, maybe there are 23,000 spectator, with media present and a lot of broadcasters there.
"It's a kind of revolution to us in France. When you want to play football, men or women, you can play, it's not like when I was a player," she added.
Just after the 100th penalty was scored, the poster symbolizing Paris was revealed on the screen, composing of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe. The event depends on everyone taking part, with each goal signaling every single day prior to the tournament.
It's like the values projected by the World Cup, meaning that everyone can come together and share in a celebration.
"We have sold about 500,000 tickets. It means that everybody wants to come and share the same emotion, because we won the men's World Cup last July," Henriques pointed out.