France out for revenge vs. Germany in bid to break quarterfinal curse

France and Germany person a agelong footballing history, but it has been the Germans who person ever had the precocious manus successful caller years successful the women's game.

Saturday's highly anticipated Euro 2025 quarterfinal successful Basel is the latest section betwixt 2 aged enemies. France were winless against their neighbors successful their past 5 games successful large competitions until February 2024, erstwhile Les Bleues won 2-1 successful the UEFA Nations League semifinals successful Lyon. Beyond that, Germany person been dominant. At nine level, their teams won 9 of the archetypal 14 UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL) trophies from 2001 (with Turbine Potsdam, FFC Frankfurt and Vfl Wolfsburg among the winners); and the nationalist broadside picked up six consecutive European Championships from 1995 to 2013, arsenic good arsenic 2 World Cups successful 2003 and 2007.

Only successful caller years, with the emergence of OL Lyonnes (who won 8 of the 12 UWCL tournaments from 2010 to 2022), person France managed to adjacent the spread domestically. But they person ne'er won thing astatine planetary level -- not adjacent adjacent and much often than not, it's Germany who spoil the French party. In the past 11 meetings dating backmost to 2005, Germany person won seven, France 2 and 2 draws. There is simply a French look for it: bête noire. Basically, Germany are France's bogey team.

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In general, astir of their meetings person travel earlier the second stages of tournaments. France's competitory grounds has seen them neglect to marque it past the quarterfinals successful each contention they person qualified for since 1997, but for the 2011 World Cup.

But adjacent erstwhile they did, to scope the semifinals of Euro 2022, they met Germany again. France were drafting 1-1 with 15 minutes to spell earlier Alexandra Popp burst their bubble with her 2nd of the crippled to nonstop Les Bleues location unhappy again.

So what is antithetic successful 2025?

For one, France are thing of a blank canvas. With a caller caput manager (Laurent Bonadei) who has lone been successful complaint for a fewer months, the squad is simply a enactment successful progress. They person moved connected from the veterans -- notably skipper Wendie Renard and all-time starring extremity scorer Eugénie Le Sommer -- and the squad are present reliant connected players who are conscionable hitting their peak, specified arsenic Sandy Baltimore (25), Marie-Antoinette Katoto (26), Delphine Cascarino (28) and Grace Geyoro (28).

The squad won each 3 games successful the radical signifier -- with a good show successful the archetypal crippled vs. England, and a second-half salvo vs. Netherlands -- truthful they are well-placed to enactment 1 past their rivals fixed that assurance is precocious successful the camp. Germany haven't looked large truthful far, particularly successful their dense decision against Sweden, and are successful thing of a modulation aft truthful galore years of success.

Germany mightiness inactive person a intelligence vantage due to the fact that they are much utilized to winning large games, peculiarly against France, but Bonadei is doing a batch of intelligence enactment with his players, and it seems to beryllium working.

"I don't deliberation this is true," caller skipper Griedge Mbock Bathy said this week. "We don't fearfulness them, and we volition play our game. It was large for america to bushed them successful that February lucifer [the Nations League win]; we don't person immoderate inferiority complex. We person ambitions, we cognize wherever we privation to spell and however to get there."

The players are mostly relaxing successful their downtime by playing paper games: chiefly large Uno matches with a batch of passion. The older players play belote (a French paper game) and the darts committee is precise fashionable too, with Mbock showing her skills. She adjacent bushed her coach!

But Bonadei won't care. Germany is simply a peculiar crippled for him, too. While helium volition privation to unafraid transition to different semifinal successful the Euros -- the 2 teams besides conscionable successful the two-legged Nations League semifinals successful October, for the accidental to play either Sweden oregon Spain -- truthful it is simply a cleanable accidental to trial their level.

"It is simply a archetypal acceptable earlier our Nations League treble header," helium said. "We volition attack this crippled with the assurance that we person and entertain our supporters. France vs. Germany brings maine backmost to teenage memories, not precise bully ones similar successful 1982 [when the France men's squad mislaid successful the World Cup semifinal against West Germany connected penalties, having led 3-1 earlier conceding 2 precocious goals]. If immoderate consciousness of revenge tin stimulate america it is not excessively bad."

Both sets of players cognize each different truthful well; astir of them person played unneurotic successful planetary younker shot oregon astatine nine level. There are surely nary secrets betwixt the 2 teams; they cognize each different truthful good and precisely however the different volition play. But, for the archetypal clip successful a agelong time, the momentum is with France.

If Les Bleues tin yet bushed their quarterfinal curse and seal advancement to a semifinal vs. Spain oregon Switzerland, it would beryllium special. To bash it against Germany would beryllium adjacent much so.