Germany women's national team were victorious in their final game of their World Cup qualifying campaign. Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s team defeated Bulgaria 8-0 at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Plovdiv. Germany’s place in the World Cup finals had already been secured after a 3-0 win against Turkey last time out.
A brace from Lea Schüller (35’, 45’) and a goal for Laura Freigang gave Germany a comfortable half-time lead, before Schüller (52’), Sydney Lohmann (54’), Svenja Huth (81’) and Freigang (64’, 87’) added to the scoring after the break.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg made ten changes to the side that beat Turkey. Almuth Schult was in goal and returned to the national team lineup after more than three years and played behind a defence of Sophia Kleinherne, Jana Feldkamp and Sjoeke Nüsken. Sara Däbritz captained the side behind Jule Brand, Linda Dallmann, Sydney Lohmann and Tabea Waßmuth. Laura Freigang and Lea Schüller lead the line in attack.
Dominant start with few chances
As expected, Germany asserted themselves from the beginning but were unable to overcome difficult pitch conditions and left chances untaken early on. Attacking down the flanks proved particularly promising, but there was nothing to show for it to begin with.
Kleinherne had the first notable effort (19’), shooting just wide of the left post from long range. Just 60 seconds later, Brand’s cross almost found the back of the net but hit the crossbar. With Bulgaria penned into their own half for the most part, Germany continued to create chances and could have taken the lead, but Freigang (27’), Schüller (29’) and Brand (32’) couldn’t find the back of the net.
Germany step up a level before half time
The first of many finally came after 35 minutes, however. Schüller’s header was saved by Bulgaria goalkeeper Roksana Shahanska, but the striker was able to react quickest with the rebound and turn home. In the ten minutes that followed before half time, Germany had added two more: Freigang finished from close range before Schüller headed in.
Germany picked up where they left off in the second half and found the back of the net five more times. Schüller completed her hat trick with an outside-of-the-foot shot before Sydney Lohmann finished two minutes later after substitute Fabienne Dongus had seen her effort saved by Shahanska.
Bulgaria could no longer prevent the free-flowing German attack and had only Shahanska and the woodwork to thank that the scoreline wasn’t even higher. Freigang scored from close range before referee Elwira Nurmustafina pointed to the spot after a foul on Däbritz. Substitute Svenja Huth stepped up and made no mistake to make it 7-0 before Freigang scored the final goal of the night to complete her hat-trick and make it nine wins from 10 for Germany in their World Cup qualification campaign.
