WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Popp doubles down as Germany maul Morocco 6-0
Talismanic captain Alexandra Popp scored a brace as Germany launched their bid for a third Women’s World Cup title with a 6-0 demolition of debutants Morocco on Monday.
In the tournament’s greatest mismatch to date, veteran Popp led from the front, heading in two first-half strikes before Klara Buehl, Lea Schueller and two own goals blew out the score after the break in front of 27,256 at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
The Germans’ cake-walk put them top of Group H on three points, with rivals Colombia and South Korea to play their opener in Sydney on Tuesday.
Seven months after the Moroccan men’s fairytale run to the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar, the Atlas Lionesses became the first Arab team to take the field at the women’s showpiece, and they will hope for better in their next match against South Korea.
They were clinically dismantled by a machine-like Germany, who took little time to get into their groove and were ruthless to the finish.
Under the first burst of sustained German pressure, Morocco was quick to crumble.
A poor clearance allowed Kathrin Hendrich space on the right to swing in a cross that goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi completely misread and Popp thumped in from directly in front.
Morocco regrouped but there was no breaching the Germans’ high press, though captain Ghizlane Chebbak launched a long-range effort in the 24th minute, causing goalkeeper Merle Frohms to scurry across her line for the save.
The first shot on goal energised the Moroccans but their set piece defending proved a dead weight.
A whirling Popp scored again in the 39th minute, Buehl’s corner pinging off her head and shoulder.
An animated Chebbak demanded more from her team in a fiery halftime address but 23 seconds after the restart, the Moroccans conceded a third goal.
After Lina Magull hit the woodwork from close range, Buehl swooped on a clearance and filed a sizzling low strike into the right corner.
The night grew ugly for the Moroccans as defender Hanane Ait El Haj put the ball into her own net less than 10 minutes later.
Worse was to come as the Moroccan keeper punched a clearance straight into the head of a team mate, setting up a second own goal by Zineb Redouani, the first player to wear a hijab at the tournament.
Lea Schueller completed the rout in the 90th minute, smashing in the sixth goal after team mate Lena Lattwein’s attempt pinged off the keeper.
-Reuters
Nigeria Super Falconets gave Nigerians additional joy after their 4-0 defeat of Venezuela in Cali, Colombia in their last group match. Their victory followed up with an earlier 3-0 win by the Super Eagles in their opening Group D match with Benin Republic in Uyo.
The Falconets’ win means they have qualified for the Round of 16 where they are most likely going to face Japan when the group games are completed on Sunday.
Both Nigeria and Germany tied on six points, but Germany have one goal better than Nigeria on goal difference.
The Super Falcons made early hays when Amina Bello put Nigeria ahead after 16 minutes. Chiamaka Okwuchukwu doubled the lead in the 28th minute before Flourish Sebastine put in the third five minutes into the added time of the first half. Joy Igbokwe put in the back breaker four minutes into the added time of the second hald.
Nigeria’s U-20 Women’s World Cup campaign suffered a setback as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against a clinical German side in Bogota, Colombia on Wednesday night.
The result secures Germany’s place in the knockout stages, while leaving the Falconets with work to do in their final group match.
In an end-to-end encounter, both sides created numerous chances, but it was Germany who struck first. Cora Zicai’s pinpoint cross found Alara Sehitler, who nodded home in the 17th minute to give the Europeans the lead.
Nigeria’s star performer, Chiamaka Okwuchukwu, had earlier come close to opening the scoring with a magnificent solo run, only to be denied by German goalkeeper Rebecca Adamczyk.
Okwuchukwu’s persistence paid off early in the second half when she capitalized on a defensive mix-up to draw Nigeria level, celebrating with Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous ‘siuuu’ celebration.
However, Germany’s quality shone through as they regained the lead through Sofie Zdebel, again assisted by the impressive Zicai.
Despite Okwuchukwu having another goal ruled out for offside, Germany sealed the win in stoppage time with Sarah Ernst’s powerful header.
The defeat leaves Nigeria on three points from two matches, with their final group game against Venezuela in Cali now crucial to their hopes of progressing.
Germany beat Nigeria’s Falconets 3-1 in their second group game of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. With Germany’s win, the Europeans have made it to the last 16 stage, even with a game to spare.
The coach of Germany, Kathrin Peter acknowledged the efforts of the Nigerian team , saying: “It was a really tough match today.
“That was expected, but we actually had big problems in defence. They had a few chances where we had the necessary luck, we have to admit that.
“But in the second half we were really good and asserted our dominance and I think we deserved to win in the end.”
Here are some major points:
- Germany beat Nigeria 2-0 in the final match 14 years ago in Germany.
- Germany have now won their last four FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup meetings with Nigeria. Alex Popp inspired a 2-0 victory in the 2010 final, Lena Petermann settled the decider in extra-time four year later, and Stefanie Sanders was the solitary scorer in Group D in 2018.
- This was just Nigeria’s third loss in their past 24 group matches at the tournament.
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