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Cheering national players
Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
The best player left the field after an hour.
Lina Magull had problems with the "posterior chain," as she later said, the hamstring muscles.
She gave high fives and briefly hugged national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg.
At this point it was already 2:0 and the game could hardly be given up.
Otherwise the best player that day might have continued playing.
But she could spare herself that way.
Uefa later named Magull player of the game.
The association is not always right with its selection, but here it fit.
Magull had directed the offensive of the German national soccer team, had led the pressing against the Danes, driven the team.
She had scored the first goal of the tournament and set up the second.
"I'm very proud of the team, it was an excellent performance," said Magull after the game: "We've trained very well and are making each other better." An important signal was sent to Europe and Germany: "I hope that the euphoria has taken over.«
Smoke hits the bar twice
For the German footballers it was a dream start to the European Championship, which the DFB team had already won eight times in their history.
But hardly anyone expected that it would be such a shooting match against the highly rated Danes (a few more goals could have been scored).
Except for the Germans themselves: they attacked the Danish defensive line from the first minute, put the defenders under pressure and created many chances.
Full-back Felicitas Rauch shot the ball from distance not just once, but twice over the crossbar.
Lea Schüller also hit the post, but was offside.
Three times aluminum - and there were less than 13 minutes played.
"We could have taken the lead earlier, but we didn't let that upset us," said captain Svenja Huth after the game.
Voss-Tecklenburg saw things the same way: "We didn't reward ourselves at the beginning and had three or four big chances to score.
Then you're happy when the goal finally falls.«
The 1-0 was one of those Magull scenes that there was a lot of today.
The midfielder took the ball from her opponent, ran into the penalty area and converted in the top right corner.
"We wanted to press high and we managed to do that well in many situations," the goal scorer later analyzed herself.
Frohms has to fly
Magull was also involved in the second German goal, after Lea Schüller's header she had turned the corner into the penalty area.
Danish goalkeeper Lene Christensen saved two more of her goals thanks to two brilliant saves.
On the other hand, Merle Frohms had also put in a strong goalkeeper performance, who was preferred to Almuth Schult when she parried a Signe Bruun shot with her hand in flight.
Magull was also the one who scored the only German goal in the quarterfinals against Sweden at the 2019 World Cup.
Germany has a long dry spell behind it.
At the 2017 European Championship, Denmark had thrown Germany out of the tournament in the quarter-finals, and the 2019 World Cup meant that the DFB selection missed the Summer Olympics in Tokyo – a debacle for the 2016 gold medal winner.
»Of course you are more nervous before the first game than before others.
You don't know how Denmark is doing, you don't know where you stand yourself," said midfielder Lena Oberdorf later.
Magull was more certain: »I had no doubts before the game.
I'm not surprised at the performance.«
It was also a special evening for Alexandra Popp, who was thrown back in preparation by a cartilage injury in her knee and a corona infection.
She came on as a substitute and, like Lena Lattwein, scored another goal.
"The girls were incredibly happy for me and also gave me encouragement," said Popp, who has come to terms with her substitute role: "If Lea first plays everyone tired and I come in and can execute, then that's fine for me. «
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Curious: It was Popp's first European Championship game - despite now 115 international matches.
She had missed the last two tournaments injured.
“An athlete's life includes setbacks.
Poppi didn't have it easy," said the national coach about her most experienced player.
»It is not a matter of course to regain mental strength.
I'm happy that she rewarded herself with a typical Alexandra Popp goal."
Spain also wins high
Now it comes to a top duel against Spain (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), who also started the tournament with a big win (4:1) against Finland.
A success would already have sealed entry into the knockout stages.
“Spain showed today that they have a great team.
But every opponent must first find a way to stop us,” said Voss-Tecklenburg confidently.
Popp then summed up the mood in the German team: “We go into the game with a lot of self-confidence.
We have shown that we are to be reckoned with.«
