Germany women have made it into the final four of the World Cup in Canada, prevailing 5-4 on penalties against a strong French side after the teams couldn’t be separated after 120 minutes with the score level at 1-1.
Head coach Silvia Neid made just the one change from the side that overcame Sweden 4-1 in the round of 16. At centre-back, Babett Peter came into the side in place of the suspended Saskia Bartusiak. It was the Wolfsburg player’s second start of the tournament following her appearance in the 4-0 group game victory over Thailand.
The German plan, to put the French under pressure from the off, was not successful to begin with. Les Bleues were roared on by the French-speaking Montreal crowd inside of a covered stadium, carving out their first clear-cut chance after a matter of seconds. After Elodie Thomis eluded the German defence, Neid shot narrowly wide of the left-hand post.
Germany lacked movement with many passes going astray in the opening stages as a determined French side camped out in the final third, linking up well. Two-times World- and eight-times European Champions Germany created their first opportunity after 15 minutes. Celia Sasic stood unmarked inside the French box following a Simone Laudehr cross, but the Frankfurt girl was unable to convert with her head.
That chance proved to be a rarity though as most of the first-half action took place in the German half. Marie-Laure Delle also headed wide of the mark for France before Nadine Angerer was called into action, denying Necib with an impressive reflex save.
Maroszan shakes things up but Necib scores
Neid reacted at the interval and brought on Dzsenifer Marozsan for Mittag, who had already entered the referee’s notebook. The change bore fruit instantly with interplay between Popp, Maroszan and Sasic eventually calling Bouhaddi into a diving save. The French keeper was kept busy soon after, having to deal with Marozsan’s free kick from 25 metes out.
But it was France who opened the scoring. Necib’s shot from outside of the box took a cruel deflection off the Germany defence and evaded Angerer to hand them the lead. Germany’s reply was instant though, with Laudehr inches from drawing DFB-Women level.
Late equaliser sparks Germany into life
Germany pushed forward in search of that all-important equaliser and were rewarded six minutes from time. Leonie Maier’s shot on goal was blocked by Amel Majris’ hand in the box and Germany had a penalty. Sasic, hands on hips, stood over the penalty spot oozing an air of confidence, before calmly side-footing the ball into the bottom left corner, sending the despairing Bouhaddi the wrong way. The Germany substitutes and coaching staff leapt from the bench in unison, silencing the home faithful in the process as Sasic, whose mother is French, slid to her knees inside the 18-yard box before being mobbed by her teammates.
The equaliser sparked Germany into life, playing on the front-foot following the restart as they looked to turn the game on its head and put the tie to bed in normal time. However, DFB-Women were unable to make their late pressure pay as the Canadian referee’s whistle signalled the end of 90 minutes, meaning Germany would have to endure another half-hour of football if they were to progress to the World Cup semi-finals.
Tired legs in ‘stop-start’ extra time
The rub-downs and stretches which ensued during the interval were much welcome for both sides after a hard-fought and stretched game. They seemed to do the job for the Germans though, beginning the first half of extra time where they left off, piling the pressure onto the French backline with a couple of corners as the home crowd grew ever quieter.
The first period of extra time developed into a real end-to-end encounter with Germany just edging the opening 15 minutes, during which no real concrete chances were created but play was certainly becoming more stretched, defences were showing signs of tiredness and holes were beginning to emerge in the France defence.
Injuries, blood and cramps became a common feature of the second period of extra time as neither side were able to gain any rhythm or momentum due to the frequent stoppages. German hearts were broken three minutes from time, only to be quickly mended, when France had a goal ruled out in the 117th minute due to offside. Both teams were unable to make use of late corner kicks in the closing two minutes of play and the game was to be decided by a penalty shoot-out…
Less we forget that Nadine Angerer didn’t concede a single goal during the 2007 World Cup triumph and is well-versed when it comes to the 12-yard spot. Melanie Behringer, Simone Laudehr, Babett Peter, Dzsenifer Marozsan and Celia Sasic all expertly tucked their penalties away before the 36-year-old, at her final World Cup, denied Claire Lavogez in France’s fifth penalty to keep the title dream alive.
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Germany women have made it into the final four of the World Cup in Canada, prevailing 5-4 on penalties against a strong French side after the teams couldn’t be separated after 120 minutes with the score level at 1-1.
Head coach Silvia Neid made just the one change from the side that overcame Sweden 4-1 in the round of 16. At centre-back, Babett Peter came into the side in place of the suspended Saskia Bartusiak. It was the Wolfsburg player’s second start of the tournament following her appearance in the 4-0 group game victory over Thailand.
The German plan, to put the French under pressure from the off, was not successful to begin with. Les Bleues were roared on by the French-speaking Montreal crowd inside of a covered stadium, carving out their first clear-cut chance after a matter of seconds. After Elodie Thomis eluded the German defence, Neid shot narrowly wide of the left-hand post.
Germany lacked movement with many passes going astray in the opening stages as a determined French side camped out in the final third, linking up well. Two-times World- and eight-times European Champions Germany created their first opportunity after 15 minutes. Celia Sasic stood unmarked inside the French box following a Simone Laudehr cross, but the Frankfurt girl was unable to convert with her head.
That chance proved to be a rarity though as most of the first-half action took place in the German half. Marie-Laure Delle also headed wide of the mark for France before Nadine Angerer was called into action, denying Necib with an impressive reflex save.
Maroszan shakes things up but Necib scores
Neid reacted at the interval and brought on Dzsenifer Marozsan for Mittag, who had already entered the referee’s notebook. The change bore fruit instantly with interplay between Popp, Maroszan and Sasic eventually calling Bouhaddi into a diving save. The French keeper was kept busy soon after, having to deal with Marozsan’s free kick from 25 metes out.
But it was France who opened the scoring. Necib’s shot from outside of the box took a cruel deflection off the Germany defence and evaded Angerer to hand them the lead. Germany’s reply was instant though, with Laudehr inches from drawing DFB-Women level.
Late equaliser sparks Germany into life
Germany pushed forward in search of that all-important equaliser and were rewarded six minutes from time. Leonie Maier’s shot on goal was blocked by Amel Majris’ hand in the box and Germany had a penalty. Sasic, hands on hips, stood over the penalty spot oozing an air of confidence, before calmly side-footing the ball into the bottom left corner, sending the despairing Bouhaddi the wrong way. The Germany substitutes and coaching staff leapt from the bench in unison, silencing the home faithful in the process as Sasic, whose mother is French, slid to her knees inside the 18-yard box before being mobbed by her teammates.
The equaliser sparked Germany into life, playing on the front-foot following the restart as they looked to turn the game on its head and put the tie to bed in normal time. However, DFB-Women were unable to make their late pressure pay as the Canadian referee’s whistle signalled the end of 90 minutes, meaning Germany would have to endure another half-hour of football if they were to progress to the World Cup semi-finals.
Tired legs in ‘stop-start’ extra time
The rub-downs and stretches which ensued during the interval were much welcome for both sides after a hard-fought and stretched game. They seemed to do the job for the Germans though, beginning the first half of extra time where they left off, piling the pressure onto the French backline with a couple of corners as the home crowd grew ever quieter.
The first period of extra time developed into a real end-to-end encounter with Germany just edging the opening 15 minutes, during which no real concrete chances were created but play was certainly becoming more stretched, defences were showing signs of tiredness and holes were beginning to emerge in the France defence.
Injuries, blood and cramps became a common feature of the second period of extra time as neither side were able to gain any rhythm or momentum due to the frequent stoppages. German hearts were broken three minutes from time, only to be quickly mended, when France had a goal ruled out in the 117th minute due to offside. Both teams were unable to make use of late corner kicks in the closing two minutes of play and the game was to be decided by a penalty shoot-out…
Less we forget that Nadine Angerer didn’t concede a single goal during the 2007 World Cup triumph and is well-versed when it comes to the 12-yard spot. Melanie Behringer, Simone Laudehr, Babett Peter, Dzsenifer Marozsan and Celia Sasic all expertly tucked their penalties away before the 36-year-old, at her final World Cup, denied Claire Lavogez in France’s fifth penalty to keep the title dream alive.
