Brazil wants to beat France and turn the page of the 2019 World Cup

2023-07-29 02:30:48

O Brazil will face France this Saturday (29) for the second round of the Women’s World Cupwith the aim of leaving behind the shadow of elimination in the 2019 tournament, said the coach and a player of the national team this Friday (28).

“It was a bitter defeat in the last Cup, the result was defined in the details,” said Luana Bertolucci, midfielder for Brazil, at a press conference. “We’re going to focus on their strongest players. We’re going to pay special attention to that.”

Brazil was eliminated in the round of 16 of the 2019 World Cup in France by the hosts, who will face each other on Saturday in the group stage of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

“Four years on (the elimination) the players have done a fantastic job,” said Brazil coach Pia Sundhage.

She said she was proud of the number of games her players had kept clean but insisted “we also need to score to beat France”.

“The more times you face a team like France, the more chances you have to win. Now we have the opportunity, it’s the time”, said the Swedish coach.

She also indicated that when comparing her current squad to the 2019 squad, she sees big differences, noting particularly that they currently play with more confidence.

“You have to take the chances you have (…) If you score a goal, confidence increases, the team spirit will be very different,” said Sundhage.

Brazil debuted in Group F of the current World Cup with a 4-0 thrashing of Panama, with midfielder Ary Borges standing out, who scored three goals.

Citing Ary, Luana highlighted that in Brazil “the strength of our attack is very great, we have intelligent players and a good bench. This will be the key to success”.

The coach admitted that she is aware of the injury to French captain Wendie Renard, a defender who has the potential to score goals, and that she has plans whether she plays or not.

“France are very different to Panama. That will be seen in the starting line-up, and also with some different tactics,” said Sundhage.

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