Germany qualified for its ninth Women’s Euro Cup final by beating France 2-1 on Wednesday, making it the hosts’ England rival in Sunday’s big game.
Captain Alexandra Popp (minutes 40 and 76) scored both goals for Germany in Milton Keynes, first with a left-footed shot into the box and then with a header, both assisted by Svenja Huth.
France had provisionally equalized in minute 45, with a goal against goalkeeper Merle Frohms after a shot hit the post by Kadidiatou Diani.
The Germans are the great dominators of the historical winners of the Women’s European Championship, with eight titles in the twelve previous editions played. Whenever the ‘Frauen-Nationalmannschaft’ reached the last match in this tournament they ended up lifting the trophy, a tradition they hope to uphold at Wembley on Sunday.
The English qualified on Tuesday by beating Sweden 4-0 in the first semi-final in Sheffield. The local team has an impressive average of four goals per game.
Germany has won every game it has played so far in the European Championship.
In their first phase group they beat Denmark (4-0), Spain (2-0) and Finland (3-0), before beating Austria (2-0) in the quarterfinals. The goal received this Wednesday was the first in this edition, but despite this, they were able to win and seal the ticket to the final.
Alexandra Popp, chosen as the best player of the match, reaches England’s Beth Mead in the scoring table, both with six goals. They have equaled the number of goals scored in the same edition of the tournament, that of the German Inka Grings in 2009, so they will opt to beat them in the final.
France, for its part, fails again in its attempt to reach the first major final for its women’s football. He lost in the semifinals, as he did in the 2011 World Cup and the 2012 Olympics.
Since the Olympic event ten years ago in London, the ‘Bleues’ had chained five major competitions falling in the quarterfinals. His presence in the semifinals on this occasion allows at least to break the curse of a team that dreams in the medium term of succeeding at home in the Paris-2024 Olympic Games.
