The dream lives on, Paris is very close: The German women’s football team kept their nerve in the penalty shootout at the Olympic Games and are now aiming for the medals.
The team of departing coach Horst Hrubesch defeated Canada 4-2 in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals in Marseille, after the previous 120 minutes had been goalless against the gold winners from Tokyo. In the semi-finals on Tuesday (6 p.m./ARD and Eurosport), there is a chance of revenge against the record Olympic champions USA after the 1-4 defeat in the preliminary round.
Ann-Katrin Berger became a German heroine; exactly one year to the day after the embarrassing World Cup group stage exit against South Korea, she saved the penalties against Ashley Lawrence and Adriana Leon and then scored herself.
The DFB women have only failed to win a medal once at the Olympics, winning one gold and three bronze medals in their five previous participations. By reaching the final in Paris, the team would also fulfill their dream of spending a few nights in the Olympic Village.
“We have a machine in goal,” said captain Alexandra Popp on ZDF. Saving penalties is what Berger feels like her speciality. “And then she coolly puts it in herself – hats off to her for being so cold-blooded,” said the striker.
DFB-Elf on the attack from the start
Canada had written a remarkable story in the preliminary round. The Olympic champions from Tokyo did not seem at all inhibited after the drone spying scandal and a six-point deduction, won all three group matches after the suspension of head coach Bev Priestman – and saved themselves in the round of 16 as runners-up.
From a German perspective, it is all the more important that top attacker Lea Schüller and central defenders Marina Hegering and Kathrin Hendrich were able to play in the “50:50 game” (Hrubesch).
The German women got off to a better start and were able to shake off their nerves much more quickly in the 33-degree heat at the Stade Velodrome. After a perfect chip pass from Janina Minge, Schüller appeared alone in front of the goal, but the shot was completely missed (11th minute). The DFB eleven repeatedly combined well and were clearly superior. Klara Bühl failed to score after a dream pass from Jule Brand due to a strong foot save from Kailen Sheridan (18th minute).
The Canadians, coached by interim coach Andy Spence, managed almost nothing before the break, and in the final third there was one bad pass after another. As Germany also ran out of ideas as the game went on, the game now mainly petered out in the midfield.
Canada wakes up after one hour
Even after the break, Hrubesch’s team remained the more active team, but lacked clarity in the final pass. Many promising attacks were not completed. Canada only woke up after around 60 minutes and suddenly invested more in the offense. Cloe Lacasse forced Ann-Katrin Berger, who had recently been criticized, to make a first save (70th minute), then the goalkeeper made a strong save with her foot in a one-on-one against Adriana Leon (71st minute).
The German team now seemed completely exhausted and could hardly get out of their own half. Janine Beckie was just centimeters away from landing a lucky punch shortly before extra time (90th+5) – and in this extra time the German team woke up again, Sydney Lohmann hit the crossbar (113th). However, the decision was only made from the penalty spot.
“We had the chance to seal the deal earlier and then we go through 120 minutes and into a penalty shootout – that’s killing me,” Popp said.
Source: www.sport.de
