It all started so well for Germany. Lea Schüller had twice gone close before she dropped deep and found Carlotta Wamser, replacing injured captain Giulia Gwinn at right back, who weighted a perfect through ball for Jule Brand to score the seventh minute opener. With Klara Bühl a constant threat, Germany’s attack was fluid and menacing.
Less than half an hour later, nobody was thinking about their attack. First, a heavy touch from Wamser and a total dereliction of duty from the rest of the German defense allowed Stina Blackstenius to run unchallenged in to the box and score. Next, a sharp run from Smilla Holmberg ended with a fortunate deflection to give Sweden the lead.
Though their tournament progression was all but assured before the game, Germany panicked. Goalkeeper Ann-Kathrin Berger, the most experienced of Germany’s defense, gave a simple pass to opponent Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and got away with it. Moments later, Rytting Kaneryd was in again, this time finding Fridolina Rolfö whose shot was stopped by the hands of Wamser. The makeshift fullback was sent off, and Rolfö scored the resulting penalty.
“There was a sequence of behavior that wasn’t good, we have to work on that,” said Germany coach Christian Wück: “The goal wasn’t to concede four goals. That should be clear to everyone. We have to draw our conclusions from that.”
Germany finally pay defensive price
Though the speed of the implosion was a surprise, Germany’s defensive frailties were clear from their wins against Poland and Denmark earlier in the group stage. Partly this is an issue of personnel. Berger, at 34, was a backup to Merle Frohms before her retirement, Wamser has spent most of her nascent career playing further forward and center back Rebecca Knaak, substituted at halftime, has just 7 caps at the age of 29.
Wück has put his faith in Knaak, who had not played for her country until his appointment last year, but now must decide whether to replace her with Kathrin Hendrich, a 33-year-old who has been a regular in the German squad for some time and has plenty of tournament experience.
His decision to omit another former Germany regular, leftback Felicitas Rauch, from the tournament squad will also now come under further scrutiny. “Not picking me is one thing. Not informing me and not even giving me a reason is something I simply don’t understand. I would like to see much more transparent communication here,” the 29-year-old wrote on Instagram after she was left out.
The absence of star defensive midfielder Lena Oberdorf is also starting to be felt, with Sjoeke Nüskens and Elisa Senss struggling to control matches for 90 minutes.
Wück with work cut out
Wück cut his teeth with Germany’s male youth teams and the scrutiny of a major tournament is a new challenge for him.
In his time as senior women’s coach so far, he has tried to introduce a progressive style of play building up from the back, often most evident in how much Berger plays out with the ball. His tactics also often oblige his defenders to deal with opponents in one on one situations when faced with counterattacks.
While debutants Poland and a limited Danish side weren’t able to take advantage of that, World Cup semifinalists Sweden were, adding a fourth when Lina Hurtig was allowed to tap in unchallenged on 80 minutes.
It is only the second time Germany, who have won the tournament a record eight times, have lost a group game and the first time they have conceded four in a Euros macth. But Wück was defiant. “We are down but we will get up again. It will take a few hours and then we will look forward to the quarterfinal,” he said.
With Wamser now suspended from the round of 16 match against the winners of group D (England, France or the Netherlands, who all play on Sunday), Berger looking shaky and Knaak struggling with the Swedes, Wück has some big decisions to make, even if they do only take a few hours.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
