Colin Abgrall with AFP / Photo credits: FRANCK FIFE / AFP
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6:16 p.m., August 08, 2023
The French women’s team won without trembling against Morocco (4-0) to validate its place in the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup against Australia on Tuesday in Adelaide. With a double from Eugénie Le Sommer and goals from Kenza Dali and Kadidiatou Diani, Les Bleues matched their performance at the 2019 World Cup with this qualification for the quarterfinals. They will face co-hosts Australia on Saturday in Brisbane.
Les Bleues made the difference from the first minutes of play
In a World Cup rich in surprises where so many favorites (Germany, Canada, United States) have already fallen, the France team has ensured the blow by making the difference even before the half hour mark. Three goals in eight minutes de Diani (15th), Dali (20th) and Le Sommer (23rd) allowed Hervé Renard’s players to quickly lead 3-0, and take advantage of the second period to manage. Eugenie Le Sommer still went there with a double, taking the opportunity to score her third goal of the competition with a header at the far post (71st).
Saturday in Brisbane in front of 50,000 Australians, another song and a completely different atmosphere await Wendie Renard and her teammates against the “Matildas”, co-organizers of the tournament and title contenders. For its part, for its first participation in a Women’s World Cup, Morocco comes out the front door, managed to eliminate Germany and qualify for the final phase, a historic performance.
Colombia qualify for their first quarter-final
It was much tighter between Colombia and Jamaica. But Linda Caicedo and her teammates qualified for their first quarter-final of a World Cup thanks to a narrow victory (1-0) on Tuesday in Melbourne. All they needed was a goal from captain Catalina Usme, a recovery full of lucidity (51st) on an opening by Ana Guzman, to unlock a balanced meeting and be enough to delight the many Colombian fans present in the stands.
The “Cafeteras”, who are participating in their third World Cup, will face England, reigning European champions, for a place in the last four on Saturday in Brisbane. The “Reggae Girlz”, they leave the competition with honors, after reaching the round of 16 for the first time during their second participation. They also eliminated Brazil in the group stage.
reactions
Herve Renardcoach of the France team, after the victory against Morocco (4-0) and the qualification for the quarter-finals of the World Cup, at the microphone of M6:
“The objective is fulfilled. We always want a little more but that’s good. Now we have to look forward to this quarter-final against the host country (Australia). We have equaled the performance of there at four years old. We know what we came here for, the priority objective is to do better than what the French team did in 2011 (a semi-final lost against the United States), so we knows what we have to do. We have the ability to do it. Afterwards, we know it in advance, it will not be an easy match (against Australia), but not easy for both teams. “.
Eugenie Le Sommerstriker for the France team: “That’s what we came for. We qualified, that’s the most important thing. We didn’t want to take this team lightly because we knew they had a good group stage. They still eliminated Germany so they have quality in their team, we had to take them seriously from the start of the match. It made it easier for us to score fairly quickly and that got us off to a good start. It’s always a pleasure to score. The team is doing well. We arrive with confidence and that’s also important for the future. We’re ready for this quarter-final”.