‘Surgeon’ Eugenie Le Sommer ready to slice open the Matildas in World Cup quarter-final

French star Eugenie Le Sommer has received a huge endorsement from her coach ahead of Les Bleues’ World Cup quarter-final battle with the Matildas.

Sam Kerr might be good, but French star Eugenie Le Sommer is better.

That’s the belief of Les Bleues coach Herve Renard, who had a clear warning for the Matildas ahead of Saturday’s FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter-final showdown at Suncorp Stadium.

“There’s no-one like her in the (penalty) box,” Renard said of 34-year-old attacker Sommer.

“I have seen a few male players that were incredible in the box, but she has incredible quality.

“She’s like a surgeon in the box … I wouldn’t change my strikers for the ones from the other team.”

Le Sommer, a teammate of Matildas right-back Ellie Carpenter at French club Lyon, has already scored three goals in the tournament, including a brace in France’s 4-0 round-of-16 thrashing of Morocco.

Matildas captain Kerr has played less than 20 minutes during the tournament because of a calf injury,

Regardless of how much game-time Kerr is given on Saturday night, Renard predicted the Matildas style of play would not change.

French star Eugenie Le Sommer trains in preparation for her side’s meeting with the Matildas. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“Of course the characteristics of the strikers will be different, but they like to wait for their opponent, they like the transition to be fast and get behind the defence, and they have some very good players to use this system,” he said.

“We are aware about everything, we know they are a very good team with fantastic support, but I have full confidence in my squad.

“I am with one of the best football teams in the world, so I just want them to have more confidence in themselves … respect all their opponents, but don’t fear anybody because they have the quality to have a fantastic tournament.

“I’m sure now they realise how well they can do.”

Ranked fifth in the world, France is desperate to at least go one step further than at the 2019 World Cup, when as hosts, Les Bleues were knocked out in the quarter-finals by eventual champions USA.

“Our goal is to reach the last four in this tournament, so … we only have one option (on Saturday),” Renard said.

He said his team – beaten 1-0 by the Matildas in a pre-tournament friendly in Melbourne – would embrace the task of playing against the World Cup co-hosts.

“We are not only playing against one team, we are playing against one nation,” he said.

“It’s also why we are very motivated for this game, because we love it.

“This is a high level of football, and we prefer to play this kind of game rather than a friendly game somewhere with 100 people. That is not football.”

Le Sommer said: “We know what we want and it will be important to show this (against the Matildas).

“We want to leave our mark on the history of women’s football. We have ambitions and we want to bring something back to our own country.”

Originally published as ‘Surgeon’ Eugenie Le Sommer ready to slice open the Matildas in World Cup quarter-final