Germany beats England to advance to the final of Euro 2022 thanks to an inspiring performance by Alexandra Popp.
Germany beats England to advance to the final: Germany played England in the Euro 2022 final on Sunday. Alexandra Popp scored twice in a hard-fought 2-1 win over France, which was making its first appearance in the final four. Die Nationalelf had not given up a single goal on their way to the semi-finals. Even though they were tested by a lively France frontline, they were not likely to give up their chance to play in a record-high ninth Euro final.
France’s head coach Corinne Diacre said that her team would “savor” every moment of their first semi-final appearance, but Popp quickly put an end to that when she finished off a smooth team move by firing Svenja Huth’s pinpoint cross from close range.
The game between France and Germany
Germany’s defense was broken for the first time when Kadidiatou Diani’s shot hit the post and went right to goalkeeper Merle Frohms. This gave France a chance to get back in the game. The rebound was harsh, but France’s best attacking threat of the night made the shot with confidence.
The Germans kept up the pressure, but Selma Bacha, Wendie Renard, and Diani all had shots Frohms saved. This kept her team in the game until Popp, who was tied for the most goals in the tournament, won it.
Before this game in which Germany beats England, Germany had scored in all 23 of their European final knockout games. That makes 24. On Sunday, they will play England at Wembley Stadium in a rematch of the 2009 final.
The Magic of Popp
No team has won its first semi-final game since West Germany in 1989, and Popp’s goal in the first half, which came from a Huth cross that was perfectly placed, made France’s task even more difficult. Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, and Austria have all tried and failed to get past the final four on their first try. France is the fifth country to join that list.
The French played with a lot of zeal in the second half, but they didn’t score any more goals because they missed a lot of chances. Renard’s back-post header came close, and Diani’s near-post shot was stopped by Frohms’s brilliant save, which made up for her earlier mistake. Germany’s success in front of the goal made the difference in the end, and their star captain Popp, who has scored 6 of her team’s 13 goals (46%) at this summer’s tournament, rose to another big moment in front of 27,445 people in Milton Keynes.
“I had the feeling that many people had already written me off. I” m able to show that I’m still a force to be reckoned with,” the 31-year-old said after scoring against Austria.
Here’s what Popp, Voss-Tecklenburg, and France’s head coach, Corinne Diacre had to say!
Popp: England at Wembley is the best thing ever
“I can’t put it into words. We played an amazing game and threw everything in. We are incredibly happy; nobody expected us. We’re in the final at Wembley against England – it doesn’t get any better than that. We earned our self-confidence in all the games. The team is just great; they have my back and are happy with me after my whole story of suffering. Now it’s time to regenerate quickly. It [the Golden Boot] is not my priority – my priority is to win the Euro. If I have the chance to crown the title with that achievement, it would be nice – but if it doesn’t happen, then I’ll still be happy.”
Voss-Tecklenburg: Pure joy over a win that was well-deserved
“I feel pure pride for this achievement and these players from numbers one to 23,” she said. “We have worked so hard and have become such a tight-knit bunch who support each other on the field. We totally deserved to win. France made a change for the second half after only having one shot on goal before the break. We knew that they could do more offensively and hurt us. It was a terrific team effort and that’s what we wanted. It worked out in the end but it was super-exciting and super-exhausting.”
“It will be a great football feast, it’s a classic game and England has been incredible in this tournament, every single game full of dynamics, loads and loads of goals, but the first 30 minutes against Sweden showed you can hurt them. We will play in Wembley in front of 80,000 most of them probably for England, very few for us but we are accepting the challenge. I am very proud. I look forward a lot to this game, this will be an incredible final.”
France’s head coach, Corinne Diacre, is skeptical about a shorter recovery time!
“We saw that some of the French players were maybe not on par with their normal level of fitness, but we didn’t give up, we didn’t throw in the towel,” she said. “Maybe if we had 48 hours more [rest] it would have been different. I don’t know what the players would have looked like, but I don’t think we should take this win away from Germany. Obviously disappointment is the overriding feeling right now because we have lost this match, but we have got foundations to build on and we just need a bit of time.”