Women's World Cup: Top Ranked Germany Faces France In QF Showdown
The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup will showcase its first powerhouse showdown in the quarterfinals stage between No. 1 Germany and third-ranked France on Friday at Olympic Stadium.
The clash between Germany and France could prove to be one of the most exciting games to watch in the tournament with both teams coming off superb performances from the group stage to the round of 16. Striker Celia Sasic led Germany past Sweden after scoring two goals in their 4-1 win, while Les Beues overpowered South Korea 3-0 using tactical attacks and scoring two quick goals in the opening 10 minutes of the match.
“We don’t think to the final or the semifinal. We are thinking about tomorrow’s game, which is very important for our team. We know their strengths. We also know their weaknesses. We’ve been observing them for some time,” said France manager Philippe Bergeroo via Washington Times.
Bergeroo, who described their match against Germany as one of contrasting style, added that they are looking forward for the Germans to be high pressing and enormous physically. He also said they are playing the first ranked team in FIFA as the outsiders knowing that they have not won anything yet against a team that had won numerous titles.
Despite being labelled as the favorite to hoist this year’s World Cup, Germany coach Silvia Neid seemed to deflect the notion as being the clear winners of their match against France. As per sportsnet.ca, Neid said through an interpreter that the two-time world champs are not stronger than France knowing very well in mind that good teams neutralize each other.
“We all have to do really good team work, and if we manage that, then we believe that we can win (the) match,” said Neid.
Les Bleues are once again the underdogs heading into the quarterfinals, but it is expected that they will be the toughest competition so far for the dominating German team. The only other time these European rivals met in a World Cup battle was in 2011 when the Germans topped France with a 4-2 victory.
Both teams went 10-0 in European qualifying matches with Germany outscoring their opponents 62-4, while France scored a total of 54-3 in their matches. German defender Saskia Bartusiak will not play in the last-eight round after collecting two yellow cards. The winner of the heavyweight bout will face the winner of USA-China game, who play on Friday in Ottawa.
