Australia finished on the podium of the Maurice Revello Tournament. The Socceroos beat France in the 3rd place play-off (2-0). The Australians finished third in their first appearance in the tournament. Here are the post-game reactions from the coaches and players of both teams.
Mathys Tel (France team player) :
"A lot of our players play professionally, so we could have won the tournament, but we lacked a bit more maturity in our game and more commitment.
We're one of the youngest teams, so we have to take positives from it, even if we finish 4th."
Tony Vidmar (Australia head coach) :
"We knew it was going to be a complicated game, and we were well aware that the French team is a very strong team with some very good individual players.
We didn't want to give them any space. Because they could be dangerous. I think the structure was pretty good this afternoon. In attack, we were good and we could even have scored more goals. I'm very proud of my players' performance this afternoon.
We played against five fantastic teams with different styles of play. It's been good for us, and I'm pleased that we've played in this tournament.
In September, we'll start qualifying for the Olympic Games. For the moment, the players are on holiday before starting pre-season with their respective clubs."
Alou Kuol (Australia player) :
"We were very disappointed after the game against Panama. We should have played better to be in the final. After that disappointment, we had to bounce back, especially as France were one of the best teams in the tournament. We also wanted to be one of the best.
I have no regrets, we just had to win this match and show everyone that we could bounce back after losing to Panama.
It was a very good match against a great team with a lot of young players in it. We had to show them that we could play football and at the same time respect them because they're young."