UEFA WOMEN’S EUROS 2025 QUARTER-FINAL : FRANCE VS GERMANY – 19/07/2025 (PHOTO – ANN-KATRIN BERGER)

PHEWEE! WHAT A MATCH THIS WAS LAST NIGHT! AN EXTREEEEEMLY PHYSICAL MATCH FROM THE GET-GO, WHICH HAD US COVERING OUR EYES AT TIMES, WITH THE SHEER SCALE OF THE CHALLENGES!!

GERMANY DIDN’T HAVE A GREAT START TO THE MATCH, AFTER STAR PLAYER KATHRIN HENDRICH WAS SENT OFF AT 13 MINS. FOR PULLING THE HAIR OF GRIEDGE MBOCK AFTER A VAR REVIEW, LINING UP GRACE GEYORO TO SCORE THE RESULTING PENALTY, PUTTING FRANCE 1 – 0 UP AT 15 MINS! (KATHRIN VISIBLY ADMONISHED HERSELF FOR HER OWN ERROR AFTER SHE LEFT THE PITCH, LOOKING DEVASTATED, ESPECIALLY AS SHE WILL NOW MISS THE NEXT MATCH ALSO!) BUT AMAZINGLY, GERMANY ADAPTED, EVEN AFTER LOSING A PLAYER AT THIS EARLY STAGE, AND SEEMED TO GALVANISE THEMSELVES, AND BRIDGE THE GAP WITH THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL SKILLS, (AND SOME CREATIVE THINKING FROM CHRISTIAN WUCK.) GERMANY MADE 237 PASSES, WITH A 50% PASS ACCURACY, HAD 2 CORNERS, AND 7 SHOTS WITH 2 ON TARGET, INCLUDING A CRACKER FROM SJOEKE NUSKEN AT 25 MINS! FRANCE MADE 659 PASSES WITH AN 84% PASS ACCURACY, HAD 5 CORNERS (PLUS 75% POSSESSION), AND 18 SHOTS WITH 9 ON TARGET, INCLUDING THE SUCCESSFUL AFOREMENTIONED PENALTY FROM GRACE GEYORO AT 15 MINS! (FRANCE MADE 24 FOULS – GERMANY 26 – I SAID IT WAS FEISTY!) SO, WITH THE MATCH ENDING 1 – 1 AT 90 MINS., IT WENT INTO EXTRA-TIME, AND WITH NO FURTHER GOALS, ONTO PENALTIES, (WHICH GERMANY HAD MANIFESTED FOR THEMSELVES, JUST THROUGH THEIR SHEER RESILIENCE.) AND WHAT A PENALTY SHOOT-OUT IT WAS! (BELOW) WITH GERMANY REACHING-THE-BACK-OF-THE-NET EVERY TIME, BAR ONE OF THEIR 7 SHOTS, WITH THE HEROINE OF THE MATCH, UNDOUBTEDLY PROVING TO BE ANN-KATRIN BERGER, WITH HER DAVID SEAMAN’ESQUE’ STYLE SAVES, STOPPING AMEL MAJRI AND SOMBATH IN THEIR TRACKS IN THE PENALTY SHOOT-OUT! GERMANY WILL NOW PLAY SPAIN ON WEDNESDAY IN ZURICH IN THE SEMI-FINALS, AND THE FRENCH LADIES WILL TAKE THEIR EXIT FROM THE COMPETITION.

BY AMANDA WATERS