Rennes, France- Germany came out with an early goal in their quarter-final match against Sweden. After scoring in the 16’ minute, Sweden stepped up their game to see a 2-1 win and will now advance to the semi-finals where they will face the Netherlands.
“We looked at Germany and knew there would be a bit more space behind their backline to exploit with Blackstenius and Jakobsson,” head coach Peter Gerhardsson said. “Today it worked well, sprinting past the defensive line. We knew we had to threaten them behind their backline.”
When the match came down to the kick-ff, Sweden brought out immense pressure on goal, but surprisingly, Germany came out with the first goal. Midfielder Lina Magull scored from a loose ball and sent it to the back of the net to give the early 1-0 lead for Germany.
Sweden didn’t hesitate to make a move and several minutes later, they were back on their attack. Midfielder Sofia Jakobsson received the perfect ball down the field and her right-footed shot just made it within low range to the net. Jakobsson’s goal posed a threat for their competitors as their speed was now another obstacle to overcome from the equalizer scored.
When the first half came to a conclusion, Germany had recorded a high percentage rate of ball possession, but still managed to struggle as they conceded a goal and weren’t able to find one to put them back in the lead.
Minutes into the first half, Sweden had already extended their lead. Despite the header from forward Fridolina Rolfo being deflected, it set up the ball for the perfect play. Stina Blackstenius was patiently waiting near the goal for any opportunity and found it and she used the deflected ball to finish off the initial attempt.
German goalkeeper Almuth Schult made several saves, but this time, she fully couldn’t find the ball as she was still getting up from Rolfo’s attack. Germany had a whole half to make a comeback, but they ultimately paid the price for it as they didn’t create any opportunities to finish the ball to the back of the net.
“We started brightly and gave the game away with bad defending on a long ball,” Germany goalkeeper Schult said. “Sweden did better to create chances, we have to be honest about that. We failed to penetrate their defence even when they were tired.”
Photo Credit: FIFA/Getty Images
SCORING SUMMARY:
GER-Lina Magull, 16’
SWE-Sofia Jakobsson, 22’
SWE-Stina Blackstenius, 48’
BOOKING SUMMARY:
SWE-Fridolina Rolfo, 56’ yellow card
SWEDEN: #1-Hedvig Lindahl, #3-Linda Sembrant, #4-Hanna Glas, #5-Nilla Fischer, #6-Mgdalena Eriksson, #9-Kosovare Asllani, #10-Sofia Jakobsson (#13-Amanda Ilestedt, 66’), #11-Stina Blackstenius #17-Caroline Seger, #18-Fridolina Rolfo (#8-Lina Hurtig, 90+5), #23-Elin Rubensson (#15-Nathalie Bjorn, 86’)
Subs not used: #2-Jonna Andersson, #7-Madelen Janogy, #12-Jennifer Falk, #14-Julia Roddar, #16-Julia Zigiotti, #19-Anna Anvegard, #20-Mimmi Larsson, #21-Zecira Musovic, #22-Olivia Schough
GERMANY: #1-Almuth Schult, #2-Carolin Simon (#4-Leonie Maier, 43’), #5-Marina Hegering, #7-Lea Schueller (#6-Lena Oberdorf, 69’), #9-Svenja Huth, #11-Alexandra Popp, #13-Sara Daebritz, #15-Giulia Gwinn, #16-Linda Dallmann (#10-Dzenifer Marozsan, 46’), #20-Lina Magull, #23-Sara Doorsoun
Subs not used: #3-Kathrin Hendrich, #8-Lena Goessling, #12-Laura Benkarth, #14-Johanna Elsig, #17-Verena Schweers, #18-Melanie Leupolz, #19-Klara Buehl, #21-Merle Frohms, #22-Turid Knaak
TOTAL SHOTS: SWE 12-13 GER
SHOTS ON GOAL: SWE 6-6 GER
OFFSIDES: SWE 1-3 GER
CORNERS: SWE 3-5 GER
