EM victory against Finland: Germany without conceding a goal in the quarterfinals

The German footballers finished the group stage at the European Championships in England with a 3-0 (1-0) win against the blatant outsider Finland. The qualification of the DFB selection for the quarter-finals had already been determined.

The record European champion will meet there next Thursday (July 21, 2022, 9 p.m. CEST / live on the first and at sportschau.de) on Austria and in all likelihood will not be able to demonstrate dominance, as was the case against the Finns, who were overwhelmed by football, on Saturday evening (16.07.22) in Milton Keynes. The team of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, which previously Denmark (4-0) and Spain (2-0) defeated two football heavyweights was overwhelmingly superior over the entire distance. The only shortcoming of the refreshingly playing Germans: they exploited chances.

Germany dominant from the start

Exactly 31 seconds had passed before the ball could have been in the Finnish box. Svenja Huth served a nice cross to her Wolfsburg teammate Alexandra Popp, but the DFB captain didn’t aim precisely enough. Her header missed the target. The big favorite also followed this pattern: Cross from the outside – finish in the center. That was exactly the right recipe against the very massive in their own half (and sometimes appearing a bit stiff at the waist) Northern Europeans.

Kleinherne puts the DFB team in the lead

But because Voss-Tecklenburg’s team initially lacked the necessary determination in the penalty area, the score was 0-0 up to the 40th minute. Then Giulia Gwinn ran to the baseline, crossed the ball sensitively in the middle to Sophia Kleinherne, who hit the overdue German lead with a head. It was the Eintracht Frankfurt defender’s first international goal. Like Sara Doorsoun, Lena Lattwein and Linda Dallmann, the 23-year-old was new to the starting line-up of the record champions.

The fact that despite the personnel changes there was no break in the German game compared to the Spain game was certainly a reassuring realization for Voss-Tecklenburg. Because this circumstance showed: Your squad also has depth in width.

Popp takes care of the preliminary decision

In the second half, national coach Nicole Anyomi came on for Giulia Gwinn and Kathrin Hendrich for Martina Hegering, who would have been suspended if she had received a yellow card in the quarter-finals. So a precaution. And one that had a nice side effect. Because Hendrich introduced himself with a buttery cross to Popp, who this time stayed cool a few meters in front of the goal and increased the lead to 2-0 with a header (48th). The preliminary decision in Stadium MK had already been made, even if almost the entire second half still had to be completed.

Because Finland tried hard, but its footballing possibilities were too limited to pose major problems for the DFB selection.

Also Anyomi with debut goal

By the way, not only in forward gear. Would you like an example? With pleasure! Defender Elli Pikkujämsä fended off an actually harmless cross right in front of Anyomi’s feet, who made it 3-0 with a low shot (63′). Like her Frankfurt teammate Kleinherne, it was also the first international goal for the 22-year-old. So it cannot be ruled out that the Eintracht duo will treat themselves to an apple woi on this great day – of course only with the permission of the national coach.

The entire DFB team can also toast to a perfect group stage. For the first time since the 2005 European Championship, the record champion went into the quarter-finals without conceding a goal. By the way, the tournament then took place in England. And the winner was: Germany.

Source: sportschau.de