Soccer Football - FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Round of 16 - Australia v Denmark - Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia - August 7, 2023 Australia's Ellie Carpenter and Denmark's Signe Bruun embrace after the match REUTERS/Jaimi Joy/File Photo
(Reuters) - France coach Herve Renard put little stock in the friendly defeat to Australia a week before the Women's World Cup but the Matildas will seek inspiration from video of the game ahead of their quarter-final on Saturday.
Australia beat Les Bleues 1-0 in front of a packed crowd at Melbourne's Docklands stadium to build confidence before co-hosting the global showpiece.
"It was a friendly at the end of the day but for us we learned a lot from that game and now we have images of us versing them in our formation and what we can improve on," winger Cortnee Vine told reporters in Brisbane after training on Wednesday.
"We look inwards before we look outwards and we'll be going back and analysing our own game against them and just picking apart what we can expose."
Australia head into the quarter-final after racking up six goals and two clean sheets against Olympic champions Canada and Denmark.
France cruise into the match-up after trouncing debutant teams Panama 6-3 and Morocco 4-0.
The Matildas welcomed back striker-captain Sam Kerr who came off the bench late against Denmark when the round-of-16 match was all but decided at 2-0.
Coach Tony Gustavsson and his staff will have to decide how they want to use the country's most prolific scorer against France, given her recent calf injury.
The forward trio of Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler and Emily van Egmond have performed well in her absence.
Van Egmond would likely be the first to make way if Kerr is deemed fit enough to start.
Midfielder Tameka Yallop said the Matildas hoped to see more of their "spiritual leader" against France.
"It’s always great to see her out on the field. I don’t think she needs any confidence-booster," she said.
"She knows her abilities and she always brings them when she comes out onto the field. The whole team and obviously Australia is keen for her to get some more minutes."
Unused striker Kyah Simon, included in the squad as an impact player despite recovering from a long-term knee injury, has still not featured at the World Cup.
Gustavsson has been cagey about her fitness and Vine did not shed light on her availability.
"She’s here now and I think she's a big-time player ... Hopefully we can use her in these moments," she said.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Michael Perry)
