Germany on Tuesday booked their place in the quarter-finals at the UEFA Women’s Euro as Klara Buhl and Alexandra Popp sealed a 2-0 win against Spain.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side crushed Denmark 4-0 in their opening fixture, but had to show their more gritty side to see off Spain.
Germany had only two shots on target and just 30 percent of the possession, but their opportunistic finishing proved the difference at Brentford’s Community Stadium.
Photo: AP
Buhl gave Germany the perfect start with her opener in the third minute and Popp doubled the lead eight minutes before halftime.
Germany sit top of Group B with maximum points after two successive victories, while Spain are second with three points.
“We started by pressing very high, which immediately brought us a goal at a very important moment in the match,” Voss-Tecklenburg said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We put together a team ready to suffer who showed their resilience. We knew we wouldn’t have possession, but we wanted to make the best use of transitions and it’s great that it worked so well tactically,” she added.
In the last eight, Group B winners Germany face the runners-up in Group A, either Austria or Norway.
Bottom of the group Finland, beaten 1-0 by Denmark earlier on Tuesday, were eliminated by the result from the day’s late game.
Spain were one of the favorites before the tournament, but now sit level on points with Denmark, who they face on Saturday to decide who will advance along with Germany.
“There were two big mistakes that we paid for, but we know how it is against Germany. We created more chances, but didn’t know how to take them,” Spain boss Jorge Vilda said.
Germany, eight-time European champions, were gifted the lead when Spain goalkeeper Sandra Panos tried to make a clearance from a routine back-pass, but the ball struck Buhl, who turned inside Irene Paredes to drill a low shot into the net.
Spain were suddenly presented with a golden chance to score themselves when Lucia Garcia was played clear of a high Germany backline.
The Athletic Bilbao forward raced into the penalty area and took the ball wide of goalkeeper Merle Frohms, but sent her angled shot into the side netting.
Spain continued to press for an equalizer as Mariona Caldentey fired a dipping effort from the edge of the box just wide.
However, it was Germany who were on target again.
A corner was floated over into the box, where captain Popp got up to flick in a backward header via a slight deflection.
Spain’s coach said that mistakes had cost her side.
“At this level, if you make two errors then you get punished for it,” Vilda said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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