Eugénie Le Sommer (striker for the France team, after Australia’s quarter-final elimination from the World Cup): “I’m disgusted. I really felt that we were capable of winning tonight and I really believed in it until the end. And it’s even harder to lose when you believed in it so much. But that’s football, sometimes it’s cruel. (audience) Maybe it was a little extra (for the Aussies), but it wasn’t a little less for us. We know that these are details and the shots on goal are part of the details, but we gave everything and tonight I’m proud of the team because everyone gave their best. It’s always difficult after a defeat to immediately switch to the positive but despite everything you have to remember what you have built. You have to remember what the staff has built, what we, the players, have done because there is a real group. We all had a great adventure together. And I hope it’s a good foundation that has been built for the future.
Grace Geyoro (midfielder of the France team): “It hurts very, very badly. But it’s football, we gave everything (she bursts into tears). I am proud. We worked hard and that’s what hurts the most. Today, we have a group. We have to keep it, we have to fight to get something even. Tonight we played in front of an entire people, an entire nation, but we went all the way. I have nothing to reproach this band for. We have to keep the positive and that next year we can do it again. I don’t even know how to bring out something that was missing. We were aggressive, we played with our qualities. Maybe efficiency but that’s easy to say. In penalties, we know it’s a bit of a lottery, concentration. Going to shoot in front of 50,000 people, you had to go there, whether it was the youngest or the most experienced.
Wendie Renard (captain of the France team): “We are getting into the game very well. We have the ball, we create situations. We deserved to score. It came down to very little. They come back well at the start of the second where we suffer. We finished the match very well. Even in overtime, physically, I think we are much better than them. It shows, we still create situations. We created something strong, solid. The story ends there for us tonight in Australia, but we have to build on it for the future. We lose, but we were tough, I’m proud of my teammates. I told Vicki (Becho): I missed penalties, she will miss more. The most important thing is to take responsibility. It’s easier to be on your sofa, with a beer and popcorn or even in the stands saying “you should have done”. This is what allows you to grow.”
Kenza Dali (France midfielder): “I’m devastated. That’s football, that’s how it is. My penalty is very badly taken. She’s a goalkeeper (Mackenzie Arnold) with whom I played two years at West Ham. That’s not an excuse. I thought to myself, she’s going to think that I’m going to change. So I didn’t change, I should have. I take responsibility. I didn’t want to shoot it because she knows me by heart. I worked with her on free kicks, shooting tactics. She was the first to advise me on penalties. She is a very strong goalkeeper on penalties. There right now, I’m going to take the elimination for me. So far, I can’t see the positive. They didn’t offer anything. We in the first period, we had a game plan, we respected it. We could have scored. Other than the rescue on the line, I didn’t find that they put us in any danger. The goalie makes maybe two or three great saves. When you see the young people on the bench, I have a lot of hope for the France team.
