Germany booked its place in the Euro 2022 quarterfinals as Klara Buhl and Alexandra Popp sealed a 2-0 win against Spain on Tuesday.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg‘s team crushed Denmark 4-0 in its opening fixture, but had to show its more gritty side to see off Spain.
Germany had only two shots on target and just 30 percent of the possession, but its opportunistic finishing proved the difference at Brentford’s Community Stadium.
Buhl gave Germany the perfect start with her third-minute opener and Popp doubled the lead eight minutes before halftime.
Germany sit top of Group B with maximum points after two successive victories, while Spain is in second place 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. “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.”
In the last eight, Group B winner Germany plays the runners-up in Group A, which will be either Austria or Norway.
Finland, beaten 1-0 by Denmark earlier on Tuesday, was eliminated by the result from the day’s late game.
Spain was one of the pre-tournament favorites, but now sist level on points with Denmark, which it faces on Saturday in a match to decide who will advance along with Germany.
“There were two big mistakes that we paid for,” said Spain coach Jorge Vilda, “but we know how it is against Germany. We created more chances but didn’t know how to take them.”
Spain was without 2021 Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, who will miss Barcelona’s 2022-23 season after undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday. She is expected to be out 10-12 months. In the buildup to the Euros, Jennifer Hermoso, Spain’s all-time leading goalscorer and second to Putellas in the Ballon d’Or voting, was also sidelined with a knee injury.
Germany, the eight-time European champion, was 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 bottom corner.
Spain was suddenly presented with a golden chance to score itself when Lucia Garcia was played clear of a high German 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.
It was Germany, though, who were on target again seven minutes before half-time. A corner was floated over into the six-yard box, where Popp got up to flick in a backward header via a slight deflection.
Popp almost had a third for Germany soon after the restart when she headed wide at the back post from a corner. She was center stage again as the hour mark approached, going down under what looked like a tug on the front of her shirt as she aimed to run clear on the line. French referee Stephanie Frappart waved play on and VAR did not overturn the decision.
Spain almost pulled a goal back with 18 minutes left when a deep ball was floated into the penalty area and Caldentey sent a volley goalwards, which was brilliantly tipped over by Frohms.
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© Agence France-Presse