As Britain heads into a rather disconcerting heatwave, with amber and red warnings being distributed for much of the country over the next week or so, it was Germany who were hoping to bring the heat against a beleaguered Finland squad. In truth, it was always going to require a herculean effort from the Fins, to get out of the daunting Group B. They exit the tournament with barely a whimper, having lost all 3 group B games by an 8-1 aggregate score.
Dubbed the so-called ‘Group Of Death’ by many observers, it’s not difficult to imagine this group producing the ultimate tournament victors. Though, I suspect fans of the English, Dutch, French and Swedish sides would beg to differ.
Finland vs Germany
Germany headed into this match hoping to further underline their own championship credentials, by putting Anna Signeul’s Finland to the sword. The Fins would’ve been hoping to end their tournament on a relative high, in this the second European Championship meeting between the two nations. Ominously, the first meeting ended up a comfortable victory for the Germans; a EURO 2005 semi-final, ironically also in England. Die Nationalelf ran out 4-1 winners that day in Preston. And it was a similar story here in Milton Keynes. In the glorious Buckinghamshire sunshine, Germany attacked with a radiance befitting this delightful July evening.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg made 4 alterations to the line-up that swept Spain aside last time-out. Sophia Kleinherne, Lena Lattwein, Linda Dallmann and Sara Doorsoun-Khajeh came in, with Kathrin-Julia Hendrich, Felicitas Rauch, Lina Magull (injury) and Lena Oberdorf making way.
As for the Fins, they made 5 changes, with Tinja-Riikka Korpela, Anna Westerlund, Ria Öling, Sanni Franssi and Essi Sainio dropping out. Heidi Kollanen, Nora Heroum, Juliette Kemppi, Katrina Talaslahti and Adelina Engmen deputising.
Germany sought to assert their dominance from the first whistle. And in all actuality they should have been a goal to the good barely a minute in as Alexandra Popp headed over, when it looked easier to score. The German legend, playing in her first ever Euros found herself free in the box, about 10 yards from goal, but could only lift her header over the bar following an enticing cross from the right.
Germany created plenty of overloads on their right hand side. It was a recurrent theme throughout a thoroughly entertaining first half. Finland just seemed unable to cope with the ingenuity of Svenja Huth and Giulia Gwinn. In the 3rd minute, Bayern Munich’s Gwinn cut a low ball into the area from the right, which the Finnish defence could only scramble for a corner.
On 6 minutes, Germany went close again, this time from the left flank. Lyon’s Sara Däbritz played a neat give and go with Popp, before firing just over, left-footed. It was all Germany. On 13 minutes the Finnish defence failed to clear a corner, the ball broke to Sophia Kleinherne, who sent a rasping drive just over the bar. It felt that a goal was in the offing throughout an engaging opening period.
You sensed that Germany were just beginning to hit their groove, and you feared for Finland. Däbritz stung Katrina Talaslahti’s palms again on 18 minutes, this time her curling effort was straight at the ‘keeper.
The German onslaught carried on throughout the first half, with Finland’s only real sight at goal coming in the 25th minute. Juliette Kemppi scampered onto a long ball out of the back, but her speculative effort from 20 yards, was easily blocked by the German defence.
Germany went close again, this time Popp flicked a difficult looking chance wide of the post in the 27th minute. Marina Hegering then tried her luck from fully 30 yards a minute later, only to see her effort whistle past the post.
The opening goal came on 40 minutes. Which is around about the same sort of time I began to wonder if somebody had bewitched the Finland goal, as it was utterly perplexing to me that the ball hadn’t found its way in there yet.
Germany, again, worked their way into a good position on the right edge of the penalty area. Huth bamboozled a defender before slipping Gwinn in down the right. Gwinn then pulled back a clipped cross from the byline which found Sophia Kleinherne unmarked. The Eintracht Frankfurt defender then had the relatively simple task of heading home unmarked.
It was no less than Germany deserved. Die Nationalelf had been utterly dominant in a thoroughly entertaining first half… For anyone not of a Finnish persuasion.
Without wishing to be too critical of the Finnish, ranked 29th in the FIFA world rankings, this was a total mismatch. You got the feeling, that Germany could’ve run up a cricket score, had they remembered to bring their shooting boots.
In the second half, it was much of the same. Germany added to their lead early on, substitutes Nicole Anyomi and Kathrin-Julia Hendrich combined down the right. The goal was a carbon copy of the opener, as Hendrich’s clipped cross was headed home by Alexandra Popp for her second ever Euros goal.
Although, the game was long over as a contest, Germany continued to search for a third goal. On 58 minutes, Huth picked out Lena Lattwein, whose goalbound shot was charged down by Portland Thorns’ Natalia Kuikka in the Finnish backline.
Germany finally got their third on 63 minutes; the Finnish defence could only half clear a loose ball, which Anyomi picked up on the edge of the area, before firing into the next from 20 yards out.
The truth is, this was a difficult match to use as a barometer for measuring Germany’s championship aspirations. Finland offered no real resistance, and Voss-Tecklenburg’s side will face much sterner opposition in the knock-out stages.
Eyes on the quarter-final
The Germans don’t lack for confidence, though. Eintracht Frankfurt striker Laura Freigang told Sporting Her “we’re very fit, we’re in the rhythm of a game every 4 days… I wouldn’t say we fear anyone. We’re focused on the next game, and then whoever comes next, we focus on them.”
These were thoughts echoed by her Frankfurt teammate Kleinherne, who told the assembled press in the mix zone: “The opponents will only get tougher and the games more intense. As of tomorrow, our focus will be on the quarter-final against Austria, after which we really want to be returning here for the semi-finals.”
There’s that age old adage, ‘you can never rule out the Germans’. And whilst Finland offered precious little intransigence, Germany still underlined their tremendous quality. They enjoyed almost total domination of the ball, with 63% of the overall play. Germany had an overall XG of 3.77, which further highlights their dominance, as they amassed a whopping 33 shots.
What impressed me most, however, is the apparent chemistry in this team. Despite the rotations, Germany passed the ball well, and were able to shift the Finnish players out of position, which created lots of space between the lines for the likes of Klara Bühl and Huth to operate in.
Head coach Voss-Tecklenburg didn’t necessarily agree, but that honestly speaks more to the high standards she holds her team too, than it perhaps does the nature of their performance in this game.
“It wasn’t a brilliant performance. We have nine points, nine goals and you wouldn’t have been able to believe that. If someone had a bet on that they would have made a lot of money. We really look forward to the next match. It will not be easy as it’s a quarter-final so these are the best teams and Austria deserve to be there. We are a small favourite to win [that match] but we have to fulfil that. There are still a lot of great teams in the race, opponents like England, Spain, Austria so there are some great matches and we will prepare now for Austria.” – Head Coach Voss-Tecklenburg
Whilst it’s difficult to truly judge Germany’s championship ambitions on the basis of this game, it’s impossible to dismiss them either. This is a high calibre team, that oozes quality in a manner that is in no way obstentatious; it’s efficacious in the extreme. Discount them at your peril, they’re ready to bring the heat.
Match facts
Finland: Talaslahti; Heroum, Pikkujämsä, Kuikka, Koivisto (Auvinen 46); Kollanen (Öling 66), Summanen (Sainio 66), Alanen, Engman (Ahtinen 71); Sällström (Rantanen 81), Kemppi
Germany: Frohms; Gwinn (Anyomi 46), Doorsoun, Hegering (Hendrich 46), Kleinherne; Däbritz, Lattwein, Dallmann (Freigang 76); Huth (Wassmuth 64), Popp, Bühl (Brand 64)
Attendance: 20,721 Stadium MK, Milton Keynes.
Written by Dan Berridge
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