Photograph: Daniela Porcelli/SPP/Shutterstock
On the eve of their World Cup quarter-final encounter with Australia, talismanic Les Bleues striker Eugénie Le Sommer was asked a question about her club teammate. Le Sommer and the Matildas’ Ellie Carpenter are friends and colleagues at Lyon, but on Saturday they will be part of a critical battle between the French attack and the Australian defence that will decide who progresses to the last four.
“I know her well,” the striker laughed. “We have a great time together – she’s a great girl. She’s always smiling, she’s always in a good mood, she’s also a little bit crazy.”
But for 90 or 120 minutes on Saturday, that friendship will be put aside in a potentially history-making encounter for the Matildas, who have never previously gone beyond the World Cup quarter-finals.
“On the pitch she’s a player who runs a lot, she brings a lot of intensity to the game,” said Le Sommer. “She goes fast, she likes to tackle and she likes to go forward.” Later in the press conference, Le Sommer described her Lyon team-mate as “modern defensive player.” Carpenter, she said, “can defend and can attack very well.”
Less than an hour later, it was Carpenter’s turn to face the music – how would the Matildas stop this potent French front-line?
“They’ve been playing great,” she admitted. “The last couple of games [Kadidiatou] Diani is in great form with her goals and assisting, Eugénie as well, and Selma [Bacha] on the left. They’re in great form, but for us it’s about sticking to our game plan. We know the job we need to do tomorrow – myself and the back line and the whole team really.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game, it’s not going to be easy,” Carpenter added. “There are going to be times when they have the ball and times when we have the ball. It’s just about staying in the moment, staying focused the whole 90 minutes.”
The French have been lethal so far this tournament, scoring 12 goals in four games. That statistic is all the more remarkable given they began the World Cup with a goalless draw against Jamaica. In the games that followed Diani, Bacha, Le Sommer, Vicki Bècho and Kenza Dali have all come alive. France put six past Panama in their final group stage match (although conceded three), and then managed four unanswered goals to rout Morocco in the round-of-16.
But as potent as the French attack has been, so too has the Australian defence been impermeable. Other than the team’s loss to Nigeria, where the Matildas conceded three, they have not let in a goal all tournament. There have been nervy moments, certainly, but on the whole the defensive pairing of Alanna Kennedy and Clare Hunt have been assured, while wingbacks Carpenter and Steph Catley have offered speed going forward and class blunting opposition wingers.
The Matildas will take heart from having kept the French goalless in the World Cup warm-up encounter. But the Australians are not taking the attacking threat lightly.
“They obviously pose an enormous threat,” said Hunt on Thursday. “They have shown consistency and grown throughout the tournament. I think we are aware of their style of play and we will look to shut them down as we did in our pre-tournament match against them, and capitalise on their weaknesses as well.”
French captain and centre-back Wendie Renard has proven an asset for Les Bleues on set-pieces, nabbing the winning goal in the team’s group-stage clash with Brazil. Hunt admitted she had grown up admiring Renard, but on Saturday would be responsible for keeping the veteran quiet during set-pieces.
“It’s going to have to be someone’s job, isn’t it?” she laughed. “Her height is such an advantage on set pieces, but I think we will just continue to do what we’ve been doing on our set piece. I think we’ve defended set pieces exceptionally well in three of the four games that we’ve played. We’re looking to nullify her as a strength up there on set pieces.”
The match-up between France’s attack and the Australian defence brings to mind that classic paradox: what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? The Matildas faithful will find out on Saturday evening.
