July 23 \u2013 World champions Spain are clear favourites to win their semi-final at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich tonight against Germany who showed great resilience in the last eight but miss key personnel.<\/p>\n
The Spanish are chasing history: a first win against Germany, a first European championship final and a first continental crown. They won the 2023 World Cup against reigning European champions England but Wednesday\u2019s encounter will only be their second-ever Euro semi-finals.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor my experience in the Spanish team in the last seven years, I had the chance to play five times against Germany. We never managed to beat them but I feel that in those five times we were closer and closer to victory,\u201d said Spain manager Montse Tome.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we are in a different point, they are also a different team. But Germany is always Germany,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Spain will encounter a German side buoyed by their quarter-final heroics against France. The record eight-time European champions played for more than 100 minutes with ten players after Kathrin Hendrich was send off for pulling an opponent\u2019s hair. But they rallied and ultimately prevailed in a dramatic penalty shootout with goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger proving to be the hero.<\/p>\n
Germany are short in defense. Hendrich is suspended and Sarai Linder limped off injured against France. Captain Gulia Gwinn suffered a tournament-ending injury in the group stages. Midfielder Sjoeke Nusken is also suspended with two bookings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe game against France showed what is needed in terms of fighting spirit, passion, desire and unity. Those are the values that we have to embody and they will be important against Spain, too,\u201d said Germany\u2019s Manchester City defender Rebecca Knaak.<\/p>\n
At last year\u2019s Olympic Games, Germany defeated Spain to win the bronze medal. \u201cWe all know the Spanish players and how they stand out because of their passing game,\u201d said Germany manager Christian Wuck. \u201cWe will have to do a lot of chasing and we have to suffer. We also have to wait for the right moments [to go forward] but these moments will come.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to show our strengths in attack, which we couldn\u2019t really do against France, when we have the ball. We have our philosophy and our principles and how we want to play as a German team and they haven\u2019t changed. We want to go into the duels and actively win the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlotta Wamser returns to the German squad after she was send off against Sweden in a 4-1 defeat in the group stages. Spain manager Tome downplayed Germany\u2019s list of absentees.\u00a0\u00a0\u201c[The missing players] is not something we\u2019re thinking about,\u201d said Tome. \u201cWe know Germany are always strong; physically they\u2019re very good, as we saw in the match against France. Tomorrow they will field their best team to play against us, just as we will.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the final, the winner will play England who once again relied on their super subs and required\u00a0extra time to come from behind against Italy. It\u2019s the third major final in row for the Lionesses after Euro 2022 and the 2023 Women\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n