SYou were well prepared for everything. First on the pitch, when it was a question of making a sporty statement, and later when savoring the moment, when they took a lot of time for their followers and scored additional points with a gesture of gratitude. The German players completed the lap of honor after beating Spain 2-0 at a leisurely pace.
They were exhausted and had wet towels draped over their shoulders, hoping to cool off a little on a muggy London summer evening. With small bags full of souvenirs, which were handed to them by the supervisory staff and which they threw into the audience, they showed their appreciation for the support from the ranks and added to the complex picture that the selection of the German Football Association (DFB) gives at this European Championship , adding a friendly nuance.
Uninterrupted cohesion
After the second win in the second preliminary round game, the team, which as a community of solidarity put the next co-favorites in their place to win the tournament, took the lead in group B. It will maintain this position regardless of the outcome of the final game. With the maximum score of six points – and thanks to the direct comparisons with Denmark and Spain – the first-placed Germans will advance to the quarter-finals regardless of the result in the encounter with Finland this Saturday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship).
A pleasant side effect for national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg and her specialists: They will (for the time being) avoid the English championship aspirants, who are no less highly valued. Instead, they will be dealing with either Austria or Norway on Thursday next week.
One for all, all for one: Captain Alexandra Popp looks at the happy faces of her colleagues.
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Image: AP
There were no wishes or reservations from the DFB camp when it came to upcoming opponents, after all there were no more opponents to be expected in the further course of the game who were nothing to defeat, as Marina Hegering emphasized. The 32-year-old, who will soon be eight for VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga and who is due to switch to the coaching staff of Lower Saxony after the end of her active career, spoke on Tuesday in a professional and factual tone about the promising starting position, which is still a distant day for her could also be an advantage as a coach. From now on, she explained, the Germans would only have to deal with “top teams” one way or another – and since they wanted to get through to the final and then complete their work, “we have to beat everyone”.
Born in Westphalia, she was voted “Player of the Match” by UEFA. Hegering formed a central defender duo with Kathrin Hendrich that held the back four together and gave equal command as they later withdrew in a 4-5-1 formation to offer the Spaniards spaces where the Iberian whirl didn’t hurt them but at the same time reduced the danger of being duped into the depths by runs or flanks.
With their initially high pressing, the Germans landed an effective hit early on, which kept the Selección Española busy. Less than 180 seconds after the kick-off, Klara Bühl cheered. The Munich winger intercepted a bad pass from goalkeeper Sandra Panos and scored from close range to make it 1-0. Before the break, Alexandra Popp extended her lead with a header after a corner kick from Felicitas Rauch (37th minute).
Popp was there for Lea Schüller, who became known on Monday that she had Corona. And her deputy, who has won almost everything there is to achieve in women’s football but has never been able to take part in a European championship because she had to sit out injured in both 2013 and 2017, reported on a unique energy that was spreading of the German dressing room: She was fascinated by the “EM magic”.
Popp also explained the convincing result of their efforts by saying that they “defended brutally well” and thus made up for the visual superiority of the Spaniards, who had 64 percent possession and for whom the statistics counted 564 passes that reached their addressee. For the Germans, on the other hand, there were only 190. But this form of football cabaret had its limits. “Because we threw ourselves in with man and mouse,” as Popp stated, with keeper Merle Frohms also demonstrating her class in three scenes with quick-witted saves. “I sent the signal that I’ll be there if we can’t defend everything beforehand,” said the 27-year-old. “Everything is possible now,” emphasized Frohms, “we’re capable of a lot and it’s definitely the beginning of something big.”
Voss-Tecklenburg did not want to contradict that, even if she chose a little less bold tones in her forecasts. “We have been rewarded for our resilience,” said the 54-year-old, recommending “enjoying the moment” for the time being. Anyone who looked at the faces of the players after the hard work they had done could see that they also heeded the words of their boss.
