This Wednesday, at 9 p.m., Germany and France will meet in Milton Keynes in the semifinals of the European Football Championship. Sara Däbritz could be a decisive factor for victory or defeat. On the field, of course, but the German midfielder also has insider knowledge: she played for Paris Saint-Germain for three years until 2019, and this summer she is moving to Lyon. Clear advantage Germany. However, the DFB-Elf has to do without the previous regular Klara Bühl, whose corona test was positive on Tuesday. What else speaks for or against both teams: a comparison.
What happened until now
The DFB team is the only one who hasn’t conceded a goal in the course of the European Championship. A strong performance. But how do the players react if they – just hypothetically – fall behind? The Germans don’t even know this feeling anymore. 4-0 against Denmark, 2-0 against Spain, 3-0 against Finland, 2-0 against Austria – no matter how tricky it was, the ball couldn’t get past goalkeeper Merle Frohms. Only the Austrians know that the posts and crossbar helped three times. The best defense of the tournament is followed by the second best offense, only hosts England (16) scored more goals.
The French started this tournament with a furious 5-1 win over Italy, but then the frenzy waned: 2-1 v Belgium, 1-1 v Iceland, 1-0 v the Netherlands. Now they are in a European Championship semi-final for the first time in their history. That might give you the boost you need. With the last 120 minutes playing time and two days less break, they have an energy disadvantage. So far they have not had to travel, all their games have been played in Rotherham. After all, the Germans still know Milton Keynes’ stadium from the group game against Finland – a small home advantage.
The mood
The fact that things are going so smoothly with the Germans also has something to do with how well everyone gets along. The quarter-finals at the 2019 World Cup were followed by an intensive and constructive debate. How we played and trained and communicated should change. Last but not least, the preparations in June in Herzogenaurach were important for the harmony in the team. Now coaches and players act as one unit, but of course that’s easier when you’re winning. National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg has the necessary talent in her ranks to implement her ideas. But there is no petting zoo atmosphere in the quarter: Anyone who cheats while playing cards or stands too close to the dartboard when throwing gets angry looks.
The French would probably like the conflicts of their opponents. As far as is known, have The Blues atmospherically reached, well, its own level in the recent past. National coach Corinne Diacre has a reputation as a strict disciplinarian, and the relationship with the team was not considered the best for a long time; Quarrels were also carried out in public. Diacre did without record goalscorer Eugénie Le Sommer and midfielder Amandine Henry, goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi declined voluntarily. That sparked controversy, but perhaps improved the internal climate, because Diacre alone didn’t get along well with these three. The team got together for the European Championships – makeshift or sustainable, that is the question.
Hat-trick at the European Championship: France’s Grace Geyoro (centre).
(Photo: Daniela Porcelli / Panoramic / Imago)
The goal scorers
Alexandra Popp has already achieved a feat. First European Championship at the age of 31 – and a goal in every game, three times with a head, her specialty. This makes her the first footballer to score in four consecutive European Championship games in the same tournament. The decisive factor for her run, says Popp, was her goal to make it 4-0 in the opening win against Denmark because it “ignited all this energy”.
France’s top scorer of this European Championship, Grace Geyoro, also scored directly in the first game, but is one goal behind Popp. She’s scored all of her goals with her right foot, all in the 5-1 win against Italy. Marie-Antoinette Katoto was supposed to be the goalscorer, but the centre-forward picked up an injury in the group stage and is now on the back burner.
The influencers
Giulia Gwinn’s popularity rose sharply at the 2019 World Cup. An investigation claims to have found that the 23-year-old gained 726 percent followers on Instagram three years ago in the summer – 134,000 after the tournament. Gwinn can now smile about that, now 336,000 people are interested in what she shares: holiday impressions, photo shoots, pictures with a ball on the lawn and, for example, the dietary supplements that she advertises.
Sakina Karchaoui’s profile is similar, and she can smile wearily at Gwinn’s number of followers. More than 600,000 people follow the Frenchwoman. She also leads this category by far in her own team. She is more focused on football, but of course – as befits an influencer – has sponsorship deals that should make Karchaoui’s part-time job very lucrative. For even more followers, a place in the final would be excellent.
The duels
There have been 20 matches so far, of which the DFB women have won eleven and the French five. The first game against each other took place in 1987, Germany won 2-0, the first goal scored Martina Voss, who was not yet married to Hermann Tecklenburg. The Germans have won all four games at the European and World Championships.
Almost scored against Austria but the post got in the way: Giulia Gwinn.
(Foto: Kevin Hodgson/Sports Press/Imago)
The screen presence
9.5 million people watched Germany’s victory over Austria on TV on Thursday evening, more than ever at a European Championship game. The most successful show of the day was the quarter-finals, with a market share of 38.2 percent. 5.95 million tuned in for the opener against Denmark, 8.02 million for the second game against Spain and 5.76 million against Finland at the end of the group stage.
France can’t quite keep up with that. According to the sports daily The team 5.1 million people were interested in the quarter-final against the Netherlands, which was shown on TF1 and Canal+. Before that, it was 4.95 million against Italy, 4.5 against Belgium and 4.3 against Iceland in the first game. The French are definitely interested in the national players, the record was set in 2019 at the home World Cup: with twelve million spectators at the round of 16 against Brazil.
The record players
In this comparison, Germany has the super joker up its sleeve: Birgit Prinz. With 214 caps and 128 goals, the 44-year-old is unrivaled in European football for both women and men. Her French counterpart Sandrine Soubeyrand has 198 games and 17 goals. The 48-year-old is now a successful football coach, finished third in Division 1 with Paris FC and thus qualified for the Champions League, whereupon she was named coach of the year. Soubeyrand was 39 years, eleven months and six days old when she last played at the European Championship. She holds the age record. With five titles, Prinz is a record EM winner, EM record player (23 games) and EM record scorer (ten goals, just as many as Inka Grings) and maybe someday record EM sports psychologist. She is currently in the position for the second time since the 2019 World Cup on the Voss-Tecklenburg coaching staff.
Lots of women from Wolfsburg, no formation of camps: The German internationals with Lena Lattwein (left) understand each other.
(Photo: Daniela Porcelli / Sports Press / Imago)
The largest
Size can be interpreted in two ways. Both meanings apply to Wendie Renard: At 1.87 meters, she is the longest – and extremely successful when it comes to club football. With Lyon, the 32-year-old has won the Champions League eight times, the cup nine times and the league 15 times. Chapeau! The fact that the French are still a title away, although they have a defender in Renard who reliably heads the balls out in front of their own goal and headed them energetically into the opponent’s goal (33 goals in 135 international matches), probably taunts this ambitious footballer the most.
Taking care of Renard, nicknamed “Control Tower”, will be difficult for the DFB selection. In the German team, Almuth Schult and Ann-Katrin Berger come closest with 1.80 meters each, only they sit on the bench as reserve goalkeepers. Merle Frohms, the number one, measures 1.75 meters, but thanks to her jumping ability, she reliably grows beyond herself. Alexandra Popp follows with 1.74 meters – and with her excellent header game will probably have to go into aerial duels against Renard.
The mixture
In both teams there are two larger blocks. In the 23-strong DFB squad, ten players are under contract with VfL Wolfsburg and six with FC Bayern. In some teams this leads to rivalries. On the other hand, no discordant sounds can be heard from the German EM camp 2022. “I think the advantage lies in the fact that these club blocks understand each other very well anyway and know each other very well,” says Lena Lattwein from Wolfsburg. “Moves and automatisms are already in there.”
Of the players in the blue jerseys, five each play for Olympique Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain. Here the fronts are said to have been quite hardened in the past. Now the three Lyon players Le Sommer, Henry and Bouhaddi are absent (see above). And at least in terms of football, there are hardly any problems with understanding.
The tournament record
The next Super Joker: Germany won the European Championships in 1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013; France never.
