From flop to top: Germany’s Euros opener leaves fans with mixed feelings | OneFootball

The German women's national team started the European Championship in Switzerland with a win! After a rather weak first half, the DFB team turned it up a notch in the second half and defeated the Poles 2-0 in the end.

The German team had a hard time getting into the game at first. In the first half, they lacked passing accuracy and tempo. In the opening minutes, several crosses from the DFB team landed nowhere. The first scoring opportunity was recorded by Klara Bühl, who shot from outside the penalty area and missed the goal to the right. Jule Brand also had one of the few good chances of the first half after eight minutes. Her shot into the bottom right corner was parried by Polish goalkeeper Szemik. Although Germany dominated the game as expected with a lot of possession, they created hardly any dangerous situations due to imprecise passing.

The Poles, on the other hand, stood compact, closed the center, and relied on counter-attacking opportunities – with success: it got dangerous twice. Once Ann-Kathrin Berger made a strong save, and Nüsken cleared the rebound on the line. The second time, Poland's top scorer Ewa Pajor used her speed and ran alone towards the German goal after a long ball – her finish just went over.

About ten minutes before the break, the DFB team had to cope with a real shock: captain Giulia Gwinn injured herself in a defensive action and had to be substituted out in tears.

📸 MIGUEL MEDINA - AFP or licensors

After the break, a significant improvement in performance was noticeable in the German team. Jule Brand acted as the opener in the 52nd minute and scored the 1-0 – and what a goal! She pulled inside and finished just before the penalty area with her left foot – directly into the left corner.

This brought visible self-confidence. In the following minutes, both Nüsken and Schüller had great chances to score the 2-0 with their heads, as did Bühl with her foot. That almost backfired. On the other side, Pajor had another chance to equalize, but Berger was on the spot. Instead, the Polish goal was ringing again: in the 66th minute, Lea Schüller headed a cross from Brand into the goal for 2-0. The Polish defense slept through the situation and left the Munich striker completely free to head the ball at the second post.

The German offense continued to cause trouble in the final phase and created further chances, while the defense appeared unconcentrated at times. The Poles came close several times in the counter-attacking game but didn't reward themselves. The biggest chance was once again Ewa Pajor's header, but Ann-Kathrin Berger prevented the consolation goal with a strong save.

📸 SEBASTIEN BOZON - AFP or licensors

Despite the 2-0 win, the German team had a hard time for a long time and found offensive solutions against the compact Poles only rarely, especially in the first half. However, a significant improvement in performance was noticeable in the second half. Overall, it was a solid start, but it also showed what national coach Christian Wück still needs to work on with his team.

We can check if that succeeds on Tuesday at 6 pm when Germany faces Denmark. The Danes lost their first group game to Sweden today with a score of 0-1.

How did you experience the first German EM game? Do you think the DFB team can become a tournament team and improve in the next game?

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 MIGUEL MEDINA - AFP or licensors