Alone against all, the Blues ready for the feat at the World Cup

The long-awaited date has arrived. From follower memory, we had ticked the poster at the end of last October, when the draw was made in Auckland. Over the past few weeks, and a World Cup with unpredictable results, the confrontation had become uncertain. Before finally confirming itself, after the convincing victory of the Blue against Morocco (4-0), Tuesday in Adelaide.

The France team will indeed challenge Australia this Saturday (9 a.m. French time, live on France 2) in Brisbane, for a shock that promises. Firstly because the Australian public has shown, throughout this competition, that it can be frankly noisy when the Matildas - the nickname of Australian players - are active on the lawn. Then, because both teams have history at their feet. For the hosts of the competition, it is quite simply a first World Cup semi-final in their history to go for.

For the players of Hervé Renard, semi-finalists of the Euro last year, there are twelve years of frustration and failure at the World Cup to erase. Including the painful injury of an elimination in the quarter-finals in front of his home crowd, four years ago at the Parc des Princes. “We know what to expect. Being an organizer is a double-edged sword, we experienced it in 2019 with this defeat against the United States (2-1), underlined the tricolor coach on Tuesday. We have to make them live this same thing…”

In its history, France has won only three of its eight quarter-finals played in major tournaments. Also eliminated at this stage of the competition in 2015, Wendie Renard's teammates also have revenge to take on Australia, winner of the warm-up match on July 14: "There will be lessons to be learned, even if a match preparation and a World Cup match, it's not the same intensity, ”recalled the tricolor captain after the success against Morocco.

“The advantage of having faced them before the World Cup is that you know what to expect. We had a crowd and a stadium against us so there will be no surprises, we are ready, ”promised Eugénie Le Sommer. “It was a complicated match, we were coming out of preparation, we had traveled twenty-six hours, there are girls who had not slept for days… There it will be a quarter-final of the World Cup , I think that, if we are at our level, it will be played a lot in the management of emotions, ”warned Kenza Dali.

These emotions that the Australians have managed very well since the start of the World Cup, they who continue, like the French, to gain momentum. After a timid start to the group stage, and a defeat against Nigeria (1-2) which pushed them to the edge of the precipice, Tony Gustavsson's troop strengthened, beating the Canadian Olympic champions (4-0 ), before coldly disposing of Denmark in the round of 16 (2-0).

The locals, arranged in a 4-4-2 similar to that of the Habs, promise a fierce physical duel to the Blues, with, first, a ruthless offensive trio Foord-Fowler-Raso in the counter-attacks, and a defensive block hard to move and trap. Not to mention that the return of the national icon, Sam Kerr, is very bad news for the France team. Injured in a calf at the start of the competition, she had missed the first three meetings, before returning for a quarter of an hour on the lawn in the last match.

The number 20, designated by many as the best striker in the world, should be a real poison for the defense, where the return of Maëlle Lakrar, injured and on the bench against Morocco, alongside Wendie Renard, is expected: "A second of inattention in the area with her and it's a goal, "summarized Kenza Dali.

But this group, alone against all and all, has long teeth: “We are competitive players, we want to bring back trophies and this first star to the French selection”, affirmed Vicki Becho on Tuesday. This will go through an XXL performance, in front of the nearly 50,000 supporters expected at Suncorp Stadium this Saturday.