The Germany Women’s national team finished their wonderful year with a draw. Steffi Jones’ side played out a 1-1 result against Norway in the community4you Arena in Chemnitz, seven and a half months ahead of the 2017 European Championships. It was Germany’s seventh draw against the Scandinavians, to go with their previous 19 wins and 14 defeats.
One slight piece of bad news for Steffi Jones was the injury to captain Dzsenifer Marozsán, who was in tears as she was forced off the field. Olympique Lyons’ Ada Hegerberg put Norway 1-0 up in the 13th minute, with Josephine Henning equalising for the Rio Olympics Champions in the 32nd minute.
Henning scores first international goal
In front of 5,500 fans in Chemitz, Germany started on the front foot and looked to force the away side deep into their own half. However, Steffi Jones’ side could only force their opponents as deep as the penalty box thanks to a well organised Norwegian defence, who were able to keep the home side’s goalscoring chances to a minimum.
Given their solid defence, the away side looked to hit Germany on the break. In the 13th minute, the former Potsdam Ada Hederberg then scored against the run of play for the Norwegians, leaving Almuth Schult no chance in the Germany goal. The next attack for the home side saw Anna Blässe’s header well saved by Norway keeper Ingrid Hjelmseth (15’).
Carolin Simon makes international debut
Schult made a good save against Lisa-Marie Karlseng Utland to prevent Germany from going 2-0 behind in the 30th minute, before her team scored the equaliser from a set-piece. Marozsán put the ball into the box from a free-kick on the right hand side, Henning rose highest to head the ball into the net (32’). It was the 27-year old Arsenal FC player’s first goal in 36 international appearances.
Steffi Jones brought on Carolin Simon for Lina Magull at half-time. It was Carolin Simon’s first appearance for the Germany Women’s national team. Kathrin Hendrich also came on at half-time to replace goalscorer Henning. Huth (53’) and Blässe (64’) both came close to scoring the winner for Germany in the second half.
Germany couldn’t convert their chances
Germany obviously found it hard to focus on the game after Marozsán picked up an injury and Norway begun to create chances. However, Karlseng Utland and Andrine Hegerberg both missed the opportunity to score the winner for Norway.
Germany were pushing for the winner in the closing stages. Felicitas hit the post seconds after coming on and Anja Mittag came close in her 149th appearance for Germany. Kathrin Hendrich came close to scoring a last-minute winner but her shot went just centimeters wide of the post.
