Germany fought back from an early deficit to defeat Denmark 2-1 at the Women’s European Championships on Tuesday. After the result between Poland and Sweden later in the day, the Germans are confirmed to advance — with the final match against Sweden to determine the order at the top of Group C.
These EUROs are
Host nation Switzerland is putting on a great and fan-friendly show. The EURO atmosphere is everywhere, from women’s footballer themed traffic signals to free public transport for match ticket holders…it’s no surprise that fans are turning out in droves. Germany–Denmark set a group stage attendance record:
Both teams are easy to root for. It’s a shame that after Tuesday’s result
Germans lacking in sharpness
In the opening phase, the Germans were all over Denmark with the pressing but consistently struggled to make the most of it once they had won it — failing to get the shot off or finding the incisive pass and instead turning around, slowing the pace down, and allowing the defense to regroup. Which the Danes did well.
Finally they were made to pay in the 26th minute when a loose pass in transition gave the ball right back to the Danes, and a cascade of errors resulted in the opening goal from Juventus forward Amalie Vangsgaard.
The Germans could have scored before that, Jule Brand (OL) sliding a nice ball across for Bayern Munich’s Klara Bühl’s slotted finish, but Chelsea FC’s Sjoeke Nüsken was ruled to have left the Danish keeper unsighted from an offside position.
The result will smooth things over but the intensity of play — and thus the energy expended — coupled with the looseness of touch needs to be addressed for the Germans to go further.
Narratives
After heading to the lockers down 0-1 at the break, Germany came out in the second half looking intent to rewrite the narrative. And they did…in a manner of speaking, scoring twice in a span of about 10 minutes and keeping Denmark out of the rest of the game.
However, Denmark will legitimately feel hard done by. Bayern’s Linda Dallmann won a soft penalty after a coming together of legs inside the box to tee up Nüsken’s leveler. On the winner, Brand showed excellent composure to find Lea Schüller for a cool finish, but it was after an accidental clearance from Emma Færge struck teammate Emma Snerle in the head. Snerle is now out of the tournament with a concussion, but play was allowed to continue — something Denmark coach Andrée Jeglertz could not understand.
Finally — for a second half in which Denmark were denied even a single shot, there were a number of moments of real danger for Germany late, even if they were all defended without much incident.
From Germany’s perspective however, the goals were goals, and they were never worried about eventually getting them anyway. As explained by Linda Dallmann:
If nothing else the game’s swings — and the manner in which they happened — show how much a narrative can turn on a dime. Germany won, so they can write the optimistic story of this one and hopefully carry those good vibes forward: as a team growing into the tournament and yet to show their best.
Tournament management in focus
Now that Germany is through, it will be interesting to see how Christian Wück approaches the final group stage game. It will be against Sweden, the toughest opponent of the bunch, and the Swedes have the current edge on tiebreaks and would finish first with a draw.
Is this a time for rotation? Or a time to keep fine-tuning the rhythm of the XI? What we have seen so far has been promise but scant opportunity for the bench players for Germany, and perhaps this next game will the chance to give them a run out. We will find out on Saturday.