“I’m very proud of my team,” said an extremely satisfied Maren Meinert after her side’s perfect World Cup start. “We gave it everything today, just as we set out to do. We’re incredibly happy that our commitment paid off. You could see that we were a real unit on the pitch,” the coach concluded.
Germany face their next opponents China in Edmonton on Saturday (live on Eurosport from 01:00 CET), before travelling to Montreal to face Brazil in their final group match on Tuesday (live on Eurosport from 22:00 CET). Brazil drew their opening fixture against the Chinese, meaning Germany currently top Group B.
[bild1]
Germany’s U-20 women made the perfect start to their World Cup campaign in Canada by beating defending champions USA 2-0 in their opening match. Lena Petermann and Theresa Panfil found the net for Maren Meinert’s side in the second half.
18-year-old Panfil was also named Player of the Match. “It’s phenomenal and my first goal at a World Cup,” the midfielder said. “It was a great team performance. Credit to the whole side – we fought well and now we’ve got to keep that going.”
Petermann, who made the crucial 1-0 breakthrough, added: “That goal gave us confidence, and we deserved to score the second one. Both teams had good chances; it could have turned out differently, but fortunately we won.”
Chances for both sides, goalkeeper Kämper on top form
>In a high-quality game, Germany were focused and committed from the start. Captained for the first time by Lina Magull of German champions and UEFA Champions League winning side Wolfsburg, the team created numerous goalscoring opportunities but lacked the precision required to take the lead. The best chance of the first half belonged to Panfil, who was unable to beat US goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland.
The Americans also had several opportunities of their own but were denied by a string of impressive saves from Germany keeper Meike Kämper. Like their opponents, coach Michelle French’s side also lacked accuracy in front of goal.
[bild2]
Meinert: "I’m extremely proud of my team"
Germany did not let up after half-time and continued to generate chance after chance. The game became an open exchange, with USA also posing a threat in front of goal. After Lina Magull hit the post in the 53rd minute, Lena Petermann finally scored the decisive and deserved opening goal 12 minutes later. Theresa Panfil then wrapped up the three points with a long-range strike in the 90th minute to make the final score 2-0.
“I’m very proud of my team,” said an extremely satisfied Maren Meinert after her side’s perfect World Cup start. “We gave it everything today, just as we set out to do. We’re incredibly happy that our commitment paid off. You could see that we were a real unit on the pitch,” the coach concluded.
Germany face their next opponents China in Edmonton on Saturday (live on Eurosport from 01:00 CET), before travelling to Montreal to face Brazil in their final group match on Tuesday (live on Eurosport from 22:00 CET). Brazil drew their opening fixture against the Chinese, meaning Germany currently top Group B.
