Mueez Ajao
– Eight-time European champions Germany defeated Spain to secure top spot in Group B and avoid a Euro 2022 quarter-final tie with hosts England.
– Germany were gifted an early goal when Spanish goalkeeper Sandra Panos’ clearance fell straight to Klara Buhl and she scored with a low strike.
– Lucia Garcia had a chance to level, but could only shoot into the side netting.
Also Read: Barcaβs Putellas faces 10-12 months out after knee surgery
– Alexandra Popp, who only returned to action in March after 10 months out with a knee injury, headed in a second.
β° π₯ππ¦π¨ππ§ β°
First-half goals from BΓΌhl and Popp secure the win for #GER who sail into the quarter-finals! π#WEURO2022
— UEFA Women's EURO 2022 (@WEURO2022) July 12, 2022
– The Wolfsburg striker had missed both Euro 2013 and Euro 2017 with ankle injuries, but claimed her second goal at these Euros after scoring as a substitute in the 4-0 win over Denmark on Friday.
π° π ππ§ππ π₯ππ£π’π₯π§: Eight-time winners #GER are through to quarter-finals after first-half goals from Klara BΓΌhl and Alexandra Popp secured a 2-0 win over Spain at Brentford Community Stadium.#WEURO2022
— UEFA Women's EURO 2022 (@WEURO2022) July 12, 2022
– Pre-tournament favourites Spain play the Danes on Saturday and the winners will finish second and face England in the last eight, while the losers will be eliminated on the head-to-head rule, which is used if teams finish level on points.
– If the game ends in a draw, Spain will finish second thanks to a better overall goal difference.
– England, aiming to win the tournament for the first time, recorded the biggest victory in the competition’s history with an 8-0 thrashing of Norway on Monday to finish top of Group A.
– Earlier on Tuesday, Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, underwent surgery in Barcelona after she suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury in training in England three days before their opening match against Finland.
– Barca said the surgery was successful,although Putellas, who watched her team while on crutches from the stands in Milton Keynes for that 4-1 win on Friday, will be out of action for between 10-12 months.
– That means she is likely to miss all of the 2022-23 season and it could also keep her out of the 2023 World Cup in July and August in Australia and New Zealand.
– Putellas’ injury was the second setback Spain faced before the tournament started with record goalscorer Jennifer Hermoso also suffering a knee injury in June.
– Both players were severely missed against the Germans with Spain failing to score from any of their 12 attempts.
– They had fallen behind after only 50 seconds against Finland and again conceded early, this time inside three minutes.
– There looked to be no danger when the ball was passed back to Panos, but her clearance hit Buhl and she took a touch to take it away from Spain captain Irene Paredes before arrowing a finish into the bottom corner.
– Spain had chances to score but striker Garcia missed from a tight angle after she had taken the ball around Germany goalkeeper Merle Frohms, while Patricia Guijarro and Mariona Caldentey were also denied.
– Germany, fifth in the world rankings and two places above Spain, had only 30% possession, but scored from both their shots on target in front of a crowd of 16,037 at the Brentford Community Stadium.
– After the first goal, Popp, starting as Lea Schuller was ruled out after a positive Covid-19 test, glanced in a 36th-minute header from Felicitas Rauch’s corner to put the game beyond Spain.
– This loss ended a 24-match unbeaten run for the Spaniards – beaten for the first time since a 1-0 defeat by world champions the United States in the SheBelieves Cup in March 2020.
