RIBEIRAO PRETO, Brazil (AP);

France defender Mamadou Sakho and his teammates will be filled with 'rage' when they take on Germany in the World Cup quarter-finals.

Not because they have anything personal against the Germans, but because they are still feeling the anger and desperation after barely qualifying for the tournament in Brazil.

Sakho has been France's vice-captain since the second leg of the World Cup play-offs against Ukraine. With the team trailing 2-0 after a dire performance in Kiev, Sakho scored in a 3-0 win, and his passionate performance sparked a remarkable turnaround.

Since then, France are unbeaten in eight games and have kept six clean sheets.

France are vastly more inexperienced than Germany, which have reached at least the semi-finals of each major competition since the 2008 European Championship. By contrast, France are rebuilding and have not reached any semi-final since the 2006 World Cup.

But several fresh talents have revamped the national team, which only has two regular starters older than 29.