Dhe German team is full of respect in the semi-finals of the European Championship against France. “They played really well, they deserved to win, they have great individual players,” said Joti Chatzialexiou, head of the national team at the German Football Association (DFB), in an interview with ZDF after the French team’s 1-0 win after extra time on Saturday evening Quarterfinals against defending champion Netherlands. “They have a brutal quality and are really good, especially on the flanks. I was surprised that it took so long.”
Chatzialexiou saw the game of the vastly superior opponent on Wednesday (9 p.m. CEST in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ZDF and on DAZN) in Milton Keynes like the team at the team headquarters in Brenford. France prevailed in Rotherham with a penalty goal from Eve Perisset (102nd minute) and previously missed numerous chances.
“They are tough opponents, we know that France have enormous quality in the transition moments, fantastic individual players with a lot of speed,” said national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. “We have to try to give them little space. We’re going to give everything we’ve got on Wednesday. I believe that France also has respect for the performance we have shown. So it will be a game of equals.”
If you look at the French team on paper, “it’s a fifty-fifty game,” said Chatzialexiou. “It’s a semi-final, that will definitely be decided in our heads.” He has “no worries because I can feel the energy in our team”. The final of the European Championship will be played next Sunday at the sold-out Wembley Stadium in London. In the other semi-final, hosts England meet Sweden on Tuesday.
France is in the top four for the first time in its European Championship history. Even without their star striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto (torn cruciate ligament), the French put on pressure from the start, but missed a lot of chances: Sandie Toletti, free-standing, slammed the ball into the ranks from ten yards out, Delphine Cascarino hit the post, and then a Dutchwoman saved the shot by Melvine Malard on the goal line.
The Oranje team was able to field record goalscorer and captain Vivianne Miedema again. The 26-year-old from Arsenal had to watch the last two group games from the Corona quarantine. The former Bayern player remained largely ineffective. The Oranje starting XI also included two players from German champions VfL Wolfsburg, Dominique Janssen, who conceded the decisive penalty, and Lynn Wilms, as well as Bayern Munich’s Lineth Beerenstyn, who was replaced by Jill Roord from Wolfsburg after the break.
After the break, the 1.87 meter defender Renard from Champions League winners Olympique Lyon caused danger with a series of headers. Goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar deflected one of them just around the post shortly before the end of regular time.
