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The Matildas face football heavyweights France on Saturday night (5pm AEST) at Brisbane Stadium for a place in the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup for the first time ever in a match that is expected to break a TV record.
The world number five French pose a massive test, with Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson detailing what he believes it the ‘biggest challenge’ posed by Les Bleues.
He said in Friday’s pre-match press conference: “They’ve proven over this tournament that they have extreme attacking threats. Central, left and right. They attack with numbers. They’re brave, technical, fast. Doesn’t hesitate to send a lot of numbers forward, look at their goalscoring as well!
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But the biggest problem facing the Matildas, according to Gustavsson, is France’s pressing when they lose possession.
He continued: “they’re extremely aggressive when they lose the ball so you get very little time on the ball when you win it. That’s gonna be probably the edge they have over us and that’s going to be our number one challenge to solve.”
But Gustavsson is confident Australia has its own weapons that can get the edge over France.
He said: “But we have proved over this tournament that our defensive structure and our defensive workrate has been enormous … a team effort in defending. But also we’ve been very, very composed in front of goal.”
The Swede added: “Once we do break that pressure we know how fast we can attack. We have some players in tremendous form right now, and you want that when you go into a quarter final – individuals that in one moment can decide a game.”
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FRANCE FACING ‘AN ENTIRE NATION’
The Matildas are set to eclipse their historic record for the most-watched female sports event in Australia with their match against France.
Their crucial win over Denmark on Monday obliterated ratings records, with the match peaking at 2.28 million viewers.
With a gobsmacking total reach of 4.88 million people who watched even just one minute on TV or 15 seconds online, the Matildas’ victory was the most viewed program in Australia this year.
Fans are divided in their viewing of matches in the streaming era between official free-to-air networks and online platforms.
As some subscription services such as Optus Sports don’t share their viewership data, it can be difficult to compare ratings over the decades but in the modern era, the Matildas could just muscle their way into the most watched sports matches in Australia.
France coach Herve Renard is confident playing against “an entire nation” will bring out the best in his team when they face Australia in the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup in Brisbane on Saturday.
Les Bleues eased into the last eight with a 4-0 win over Morocco but must now overcome a hostile 50,000 crowd when they take on the co-hosts with a place in the semi-finals up for grabs.
“We love that. This is why we do this job. It is the beauty of football,” Renard told reporters on the eve of the game.
“The Australian people deserve to be congratulated for making this such a success.
“It has been a fantastic tournament. We are playing in beautiful stadiums that are always full.
“We know we are not just playing against one team but against an entire nation. But it just gives us extra motivation. We prefer this to playing a friendly in front of 100 people.”
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WHO IS FEELING THE PRESSURE?
The two teams met the week before the World Cup started, in a friendly in Melbourne in front of a crowd over 50,000. Australia claimed a 1-0 win – a result that France has this week played down ahead of the rematch.
But Aussie fullback Ellie Carpenter said: “This is a World Cup, anything can happen. Yes, we beat them three weeks ago. It’s going to be a completely different game.
“Yes we have that mentally over them, but tomorrow all that is out the window … we know they’re going to show their toughest team. We know the strengths and weaknesses they have. Tomorrow is going to be completely different.”
As for the pressure on Australia as the home nation, Carpenter says that’s not a worry.
She declared: “It’s no pressure at all. It’s honestly a privilege. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything rather than playing tomorrow. This is why we play football.”
And Gustavsson said the pressure was in fact all on the French, given they came into the tournaments as one of the favourites, but have never gone beyond the semi-finals. Their best result was the semi-finals in Germany in 2011, while they also lost at last year’s Euros in the final four.
Gustavsson said France were facing: “tremendous pressure considering what they want to achieve in this tournament.”
He added: “We feel the support and belief, we don’t even feel the pressure. We feel we’re carried by the supporters in the stands.”
Eugenie Le Sommer, France’s all-time record scorer with 92 goals, said: “We have been one of the best teams in the world for a long time, but we have still not won anything, not a single medal.
“We want to take something back to our country, do great things.
“Our situation is not the same as Australia. We have already been in the last four, but this is definitely one of the most important matches in our history.”
RENARD PLAYS DOWN KERR RETURN
It remains unclear whether captain Sam Kerr will start for Australia for the first time this tournament, having returned from her calf lay-off with a late cameo off the bench against Denmark.
“I know all the Australian players. Knowing if she is going to play or not is not my worry,” Renard said, playing down the significance of Kerr’s return.
“Their attacking players already work well together. It is a good problem for them to have. But I wouldn’t swap any of my attackers for theirs.
“Even if she is on the field it will not change the way Australia play.”
SATURDAY FIXTURES
Australia vs France – 5pm AEST, Brisbane Stadium
England vs Colombia – 8.30pm AEST, Stadium Australia, Sydney
