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Germany's players celebrate the 1-0 through Lina Magull
Photo:
JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
Unlucky Austria:
post, crossbar, post.
You could feel sorry for the Austrians.
They were not at all intimidated by the German favorites, played boldly and quickly forward - and repeatedly failed on aluminum.
In the early stages, Marina Georgieva headed the post, but in the second half, Germany keeper Merle Frohms put herself under pressure when she played an unclean play from behind and Austria striker Nicole Billa put the ball in the foot.
Quick as a thought, she forwarded it to Barbara Dunst, who flicked the ball onto the crossbar.
Even after that, German luck was not exhausted.
After a corner, Sarah Puntigam put the ball on the post.
The result:
Germany defeated courageous Austrians in front of around 16,000 fans in Brentford, deservedly 2-0 (1-0) and is thus in the semi-finals of the European Championship.
Here is the match report.
Bavarian co-production:
The goal for the German lead came at a time when the Austrians could have been in the lead.
But in the midst of the Austrian Sturm und Drang, the German team scored a goal in the 25th minute that could have been rehearsed in training at FC Bayern.
Klara Bühl, at home in the national team and on the left wing at Bayern, stole the ball from Carina Wenninger. Lina Magull, another Bayern player, lurked in the middle and completed Bühl's pass coolly.
After that, the Austrian resistance was broken for the time being.
The clean slate:
Merle Frohms has not conceded a goal for 360 minutes at the European Championship.
Sure, she got lucky several times on Thursday night.
But no keeper puts down such a goalless series without a good deal of stupidity.
And it wasn't always just the aluminum that saved Frohms.
The Wolfsburg player played well, was able to distinguish herself several times and exuded security despite a short wobble.
The quiet discussion before the tournament as to whether Frohms should really be the guardian of the German goal instead of the well-deserved Almuth Schult... - it seems like it's from another time.
The drop in tension:
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg is considered a great motivator – and that was also evident against Austria.
Germany started the game strong, both in the first and second half.
But the longer it was since the trainer's speech, the more the esprit evaporated.
After a few minutes, Austria was fully there and had the better chances.
After that, Germany recovered and was the better team.
In the semifinals, however, these sags could be expensive.
The Superjoker:
The national coach likes to praise her deep squad and often emphasizes how important every player is.
This could be dismissed as empty phrasemongering if it weren't so true.
When Germany was suddenly out of the game in the second half, she brought in Linda Dallmann and Lena Lattwein for Lina Magull and the slightly error-prone Sara Däbritz.
Suddenly the center of the Germans was tight again, Austria could no longer get through.
Unhappy Germany:
Not only Austria missed good chances, the German team also ensured that the game remained exciting until the end.
First, the outstanding Klara Bühl put the ball on the crossbar with a long-range shot and thus screwed the aluminum balance to 1:3 from a German perspective (78th).
Then, shortly before the end, she missed a chance that at least evoked faint memories of Mario Gomez's miss at the 2008 European Championship against Austria.
After a strong cross from Popp, Bühl had the decision on his feet from a few meters - and put the ball past the left.
After that she had to go down, but was immediately hugged and comforted by trainer Voss-Tecklenburg.
The missed shot ultimately had no consequences.
Pressing monster Alex Popp:
She moved into the top eleven mainly because of Lea Schüller's corona infection - and is now well on the way to getting the crown for the top scorer in the European Championship.
Alexandra Popp is now playing a splendid tournament.
In the preliminary round she hit her head three times, against Austria she was cheeky, in Austria she would probably be scolded as Lausmadl.
In the 90th minute she ran towards the somewhat sleepy keeper Manuela Zinsberger, who, for reasons only known to her, did not want to throw the ball forward, then shot Popp and the ball found its way into the goal.
It was another strong performance by the currently best German striker, who also initiated the first goal by putting pressure on goalkeeper Zinsberger.
Brentford is not Córdoba:
Whenever Germany plays Austria, they tear out the disgrace of Córdoba in the Alpine republic.
Back then, at the men's World Cup in Argentina in 1978, reigning world champion Germany lost to Austria and failed in the second round (like Austria).
Something like that doesn't seem possible in Brentford, the DFB should rather consider playing its home games in west London in the future.
After beating Denmark 4-0 and beating Spain 2-0, the next clean sheet came at Brentford FC's small stadium, which seems to be some kind of fortress for the Germans.
The next neighborhood duel:
Germany is in the semi-finals, that much is certain.
The Germans have to wait until Saturday for their opponents.
Then France and the Netherlands face each other.
National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg did not want to commit to a favorite opponent after the game.
Both teams are ahead of Germany in the world rankings.
However, the German team has now gotten into such a flow that it will not go into the next neighborhood duel as outsiders.
The European title is possible - even if the German team shouldn't push their luck too far.