Football European Championships-The German Background Expert

Match plans are no longer an integral part of modern football. You need one for every game. With tactical guidelines that are developed for a game and an opponent, their strengths are to be neutralized and weaknesses are to be exploited. For the EM quarter-finals, national coach Christian Wück and his players had a whole week to work on all the subtleties of their plan. There was so much time between the last group game against Sweden and the duel with France on Saturday evening in the St. Jakob Park in Basel.

The German match plan was seen for about three minutes. Then the right-back curse struck again, who pursued the DFB team mercilessly at this European Championship. After Captain Giulia Gwinn had already injured the knee in the first European Championship game and Gwinn replacement Carlotta Wamser was only allowed to watch the Swedes after she was dismissed against the Swedes, the third solution for the back in the quarter-finals also caught it in the quarter-finals. Sarai Linder, who had previously started as a left-back in all European Championship games, switched against the French on the right, bent in a duel after three minutes and finally had to be replaced after a long break.

The next early red card as a mortgage

In the twelfth minute, everything that the DFB women had planned finally seemed to go wrong. After a free kick, Kathi Hendrich, who had been newly ordered by national coach in the central defense, pulled her hair on her hair in the German penalty area. The logical consequence was the dismissal and penalty for the French. The 33-year-old Hendrich had come to the team to give more security and stability with her experience of 85 caps of the shaky German defense against the offensive French women. Instead, after the penalty successfully converted by Grace Geyoro, Germany was 0-1 behind early in the first half and was still too tenth from now on.

“There were quite a few neck blows right at the beginning, with the red card, with the injury to Sarai,” Christian Wück admitted after the game. It was the more remarkable how his team had reacted to these setbacks. Immediately after the penalty, the German players formed a circle to re -discuss themselves. “We wanted to keep a clear head again, precisely because we showed uncertainty in the last games when we fell behind,” said Sjoeke Nüsken after the game. In the group phase, the goals against Denmark and Sweden had led to noticeable breaks in the game of the Germans. It turned out very differently in the quarter -finals.

The DFB team discovers the love of defending

With great conviction and even greater fighting spirit, the German footballers got involved in their outsider role. Replacement captain Janina Minge moved back to the defense center from the defensive midfield. Germany’s offensive stars on the wings, Klara Bühl and Jule Brand, worked backwards with a sacrificing and the Giovanna Hoffmann, which was surprising for Lea Schüller in the storm center, tirelessly ran behind every long ball from the German half. Removing the striker of RB Leipzig also forced the corner kick that should give the DFB team 1-1 just ten minutes after the deficit. Hoffmann sprinted after a pass from Bühl, France cleared a little unhappily into the goal and shortly afterwards Sjoeke Nüsken hit the 1-1 head.

After that, the DFB team was increasingly discovering the love of defending-although the defensive is actually considered the large vulnerability of the Germans. With a significantly lower defensive series, the speed and voting deficits in the German back team against France did not notice. Sophia Kleinhernen, who had been substituted for the injured Linder, and the 20-year-old Franziska Kett literally grew against the dangerous French winger at the defensive outer lanes at her European Championship premiere. The truth also includes that France were revoked two goals due to scarce offside positions, but the Germans were not impressed by this either. Even as a Nüsken in the 69th minute, a penalty brought out somewhat happily by Jule Brand, the team did not stumble, but defended itself together and continued to concentrate.

“We wouldn’t have managed if only one player had broken away. Thank God you are not and that’s why I’m so proud of this team, «said national coach Wück after the game. Even in the 30 extra minutes, his team kept the French away from their own goal. Nevertheless, goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger was checked. In the 103rd minute, the otherwise outstanding defense chief Minge failed a clarification campaign. A crashed header sank like an arc lamp over Berger. But the German keeper fished the ball on the line from the goal with a world-class flight inlay at the last moment.

Ann-Katrin Berger lets all critics fall silent

“I don’t know how I was still there,” said the 34-year-old after the game about her brilliant parade, which, however, should only be the beginning of the Berger show shortly before midnight. When it went into penalty shootout after 120 minutes, Berger parried the first 911, then converted the fifth himself and finally held the all-important attempt by Alice Sombath, who sealed the 6: 5 victory. After the second preliminary round game against Denmark, the German number one in the press and also by the national coach was still criticized for their risky game and had significantly unsettled duel against Sweden in the following. Berger came back all the more impressive against France.

“I just contributed to this, but the team did the whole work. That is why I always think it’s a shame that only me as a goalkeeper is applauded, «said the 34-year-old after her great performance on a special evening in the St. Jakob Park completely modest and as usual as usual. However, Berger also flashed a bit of fire: “Now every team should be afraid of us,” predicted the goalkeeper with a view of the semi -finals, in which the German footballers meet world champion Spain on Wednesday. No matter how long the German match plan will work, this German team now seems to be well prepared for setbacks of any kind.