German women prevail over England in seven-goal-thriller at Wembley

Christian Wück’s highly-anticipated debut as the new Bundestrainer of Germany’s Frauen-Nationalmannschaft proved an absolute thriller. In a seven-goal-affair at Wembley stadium, the German women’s national team and their English hosts put on a fantastic display in a re-match of the 2022 Women’s European Final. In the end, Wück’s DFB-Mädels pulled out a 4-3 victory. 

Wück’s debut lineup featured (X) changes from the Horst Hrubesch coached team that captured the bronze medal at the Paris summer Olympics. Starting in place of former captain Alexandra Popp – who will join the team this weekend ahead of her farewell match on Monday – new national team debutant Giovanni Hoffmann began up front in her very first cap.Sara Doorsoun, Elisa Senß, and Linda Dallmann also took the places of Marin Hegering (retired), Kathrin Hendrich (hurt), and Felicitas Rauch (bench). 

The 4-4-2 utilized by Hrubesch turned into a 4-2-3-1 with many players moving around. Newly-anointed DFB captain Giulia Gwinn moved back to her natural right back position while Sarai Linder slid over to her normal left back role. Janina Minge moved from midfield back into central defense to allow Senß to pair alongside Sjoeke Nüsken in a double-six set-up. Jule Brand – with Gwinn sliding back – reprised her role on the right wing. Returnee Dallmann took control of the ten-slot.

The DFB-Mädels got oft a dream start when a foul by Millie Bright on Dallmann in the box in the 2nd enabled them to take the lead from the spot. Gwinn cooly converted the 1-0 in the 4th. Seven minutes later, Gwinn bagged a blitz brace with the 2-0 in the 11th. The new skipper took down a glittering diagonal from Klara Bühl, cut inside deftly, and finished emphatically from 14 meters out on the right. In front of a crowd of 55,000 at England’s most famous footballing cathedral, neither team pressed the pause button. 

Lioness striker Alessia Russo struck the post in the 13th. The back-and-forth action continued with matters not calming down until the half-hour-mark approached. Just when it appeared as if the match might settle into a sleepy phase, however, Germany scored yet again. Hoffmann demonstrated excellent vision to pick out Bühl with a cutting through-ball in the 29th. Within the blink-of-an-eye, Bühl sunk the 3-0 on a lightning-quick attack charge. The three-goal-advantage would nevertheless not last long. 

Gwinn was adjudged to have handled a ball in the box in the 31st. New FC Bayern München signing Georgia Stanway – one of just six English female footballers to feature in the German Frauen-Bundesliga since 2011 – pulled the first goal back from the spot in the 33rd. The determined Stanway wasn’t finished, scoring again just three minutes later after some lovely set-up work from Russo and Beth Mead. The German guests then punched back, with both Doorsoun and Dallman nearly scoring before the frenetic first half came to a close. 

Both coaches opted to make changes at the half. Hoffenheim’s Selina Cerci relieved Hoffmann while Rauch came on for Linder. Lioness trainer Sarina Wiegmann introduced Man City prospect Jessica Park to take the place of Man United midfielder Ella Toone. Brand ensured that the ball was already in the back of the net again by the 51st, but the supposed 4-2 was correctly disallowed due to Cerci’s offside position. Brand missed out on another great chance in the 59th, shooting straight at goal instead of picking up Cerci on her left. 

Wück’s Mädels worked exceptionally hard in search of another goal. Bühl unfortunately couldn’t convert a pair of chances just after the hour-mark. A Bühl free-kick in the 71st would ultimately lead to the third penalty of the match. England keeper Hannah Hampton couldn’t hold onto Bühl’s service. In a frantic attempt to clear the ball, Russo ended up hitting Pia-Sophie Wolter. Though the decision could be described as harsh, Germany had kept traffic going virtually one way throughout the second half.

Wolter’s fellow sub Sara Däbritz – now, with Alexandra Popp’s retirement, Germany’s most capped player – converted the 4-2 in the 72nd. It was then female footballing legend Lucy Bronze’s turn to capitalize on a goalkeeping error. Relatively new Germany #1 Ann-Katrin Berger failed to hold onto a harmless free- kick in 81st. Bronze pounced on the howler and muscled in the 3-4. A pair of half chances from Wück’s side rounded out the affair that ended up featuring no further goals.