The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Football EM 2022: Spain has the ball, Germany has Popp

2022-07-13T08:21:02.576Z


The DFB team is early in the quarter-finals at the European Championship. This time the German defense around goalkeeper Merle Frohms is particularly convincing. Before the game, Oliver Bierhoff countered the chancellor's demand for equal pay.


Enlarge image

Lena Oberdorf (r.) fails in the third group game against Finland after the second yellow card

Photo:

Sebastian Christoph Gollnow / dpa

A header as confirmation:

What could you have thought about before the second European Championship group game against Spain?

Isn't Alexandra Popp the better joker?

Doesn't Laura Freigang suit the playing style of the DFB team?

Martina Voss-Tecklenburg had no such thoughts.

Popp belongs to the national coach in the starting XI, that's doing something with the Spaniards, she said before the game on ARD.

Although Popp hardly had any playful moments in the first round, she scored the decisive goal with a header after a corner kick from Felicitas Rauch (37th minute).

Something like that makes every trainer happy.

The result:

Germany wins 2-0 (here is the game report), is in the quarter-finals of the European Championship and confirms the good impression from the first group game against Denmark.

One change is enough:

The national coach was not amused the day before the second group game.

After Lea Schüller’s Corona failure, Voss-Tecklenburg criticized Uefa’s decision not to increase the EM squad to 26 players – unlike at the men’s World Cup in Qatar in November.

"That doesn't correspond to my personal concept of fair play," said Voss-Tecklenburg.

She can compensate for Schüller's absence well, in addition to captain Popp and Freigang, there is another center forward in the squad with Tabea Waßmuth.

Bierhoff counters the Chancellor:

Olaf Scholz accompanies the European Football Championship from afar with greetings.

This time the Chancellor was concerned with equal pay, Spain was ahead of the DFB on this issue.

National team director Oliver Bierhoff did not want to let that stand.

In the Spanish association, the same premiums would only be paid as a percentage of the income, Bierhoff said on ARD.

Instead, he referred to equal play, the harmonization of the infrastructure.

There is also “a great documentary that we financed”.

Read here why this is a problem.

First half:

Both teams stayed true to their line from the first games at the beginning of the game.

Spain started unfocused (0:1 against Finland in the first minute), the DFB team wanted to force mistakes with an early start.

The bad pass from goalkeeper Sandra Paños wasn't a forced mistake, but should never happen like that.

Klara Bühl was the beneficiary, she outplayed Irene Paredes and scored with a low shot for an early lead (3rd).

What should have helped to calm the German game spurred on the Spaniards.

They showed their notorious combination game, had a lot of ball possession and Lucía García (10th) and Aitana (18th) had good chances to equalize.

Then Pop came.

Second half:

Spain had significantly more possession (66 percent).

The pass rate was much better than that of the German team, the team of coach Jorge Vilda also had more completions (13:7).

However, as in previous tournaments, the game of the Spaniards suffered from precision and determination.

The goal guarded by Merle Frohms was rarely threatened because the entire German team fulfilled their defensive duties.

When Spain had the best chance, the Neu-Wolfsburg native made a strong save (71').

There weren't many more opportunities on the German side either, which didn't matter that much with a 2-0 lead.

Battle of the captains:

In the 57th minute, Popp no ​​longer understood the world.

In one of the few counterattacks, she skillfully sat in front of Paredes, whether Popp could have asserted himself in the sprint over 40 meters is an open question.

Her opponent grabbed her jersey, Popp stumbled and the German captain was certain: That was an emergency brake.

Referee Stéphanie Frappart, one of the most experienced of her profession, who also whistles in the men's Champions League, saw things differently.

Paredes was lucky, it spoke more for Popp's emergency brake theory.

This is how it goes on:

On Saturday, Germany meets Finland in Milton Keynes (9 p.m.).

Thanks to the confirmed group victory, the yellow card suspensions of Lena Oberdorf and Rauch can be coped with.

Almost more important: In the quarter-finals, the DFB team avoids the hosts from England.

These two teams are emerging as the top favourites.

The German opponents are Austria and Norway in a direct duel on Friday, Norway with superstar Ada Hegerberg has to win the game.

And Spain?

The Selección also gets a final, after all a draw against Denmark is enough for a place in the quarter-finals.

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2022-07-13

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.