The English defeat the Wembley curse - but for the German team, after an unbelievable fight, only the painful brutality of football remains. Bitter tears flow, it hurts like a pig - but tomorrow everything will be better.
The first Wembley shock came even before the game: a few minutes before the European Championship final between Germany and England, striker Alexandra Popp, who was so accurate with her goals, fell out due to muscular problems, which she had probably contracted while warming up. TV images showed the leader grimacing in pain after a shot on goal before the game.
How bitter for the captain and the national team. Newly crowned German Footballer of the Year Lea Schüller (she had outperformed Popp in the election) replaced Popp in the starting XI. Instead, Svenja Huth led the German footballers onto the field with the bandage - in front of 87,192 fans - including Prince William and Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
A game between national teams from Germany and England is always a classic. One day after the 56th anniversary of the legendary Wembley goal in the men's World Cup final in 1966 and the subsequent curse (no title for the nation of England since then) even more so. The English newspapers outdid each other with superlatives. "Bring it home", brings home the European Championship title, they headlined. A win against "the old rival" should definitely come. The Lionesses aptly called the dominance of German soccer players in recent years "fairy tales". What should it be: The ninth European title for the Germans or victory over the curse for the English?
National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg recognized before the game: "It's a privilege to be able to play here. We want to stay true to ourselves and defend ourselves to the end to win the game." Except for the Popp change, she did not change her successful self. Klara Bühl could not participate. The winger was allowed into the stadium after surviving the corona infection, but only in the stands. 19-year-old Jule Brand started for her again.
And what a final it was. What a fight, what drama both teams showed. The spectators saw two different halves in a game that was extremely physical and partly because of the pressure. At first the English dominated, after the break the Germans. The Lionesses' fantastic opening goal was followed by the DFB women's equalizer, which was just as nice.
In dramatic extra time, with both teams fighting to the death, the England side finally defeated the Wembley curse when Chloe Kelly somehow poked the ball over the line in the 110th minute. Brutal for the Germans: The goal came after a corner, otherwise there was hardly anything else for the English women. The game was over, the English women managed what the men had tried again and again since 1966.
Instead of endless jubilation, there were bitter tears on the part of the DFB women. Football is so cruel. Lena Oberdorf, who was named the tournament's best young player, didn't know what to do with herself and her emotions. Popp was crying too. "It just sucks to leave the pitch as a loser right now," said Huth.
Although the pain is always deep shortly after the bankruptcy, the footballers will realize in the next few days how proud they can be of themselves. What they have achieved in the tournament weeks: Playing great football, inspiring an entire country - and promoting important developments towards equality.
England: Earps - Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Daly ab 89. Greenwood - Stanway ab 89. Scott, Walsh - Mead ab 64. Kelly, Kirby ab 56. Toone, Hemp ab 119. Parris - White ab 56. Russo. - Trainerin: Wiegman
Germany: Frohms/VfL Wolfsburg (27 years/33 internationals) - Gwinn/Bayern Munich (23/33), Hendrich/VfL Wolfsburg (30/52), Hegering/VfL Wolfsburg (32/26) from 103. Doorsoun/Eintracht Frankfurt (30/39), Rauch/VfL Wolfsburg (26/26) from 113. Lattwein/VfL Wolfsburg (22/22) - Magull/Bayern Munich (27/65) from 91. Dallmann/Bayern Munich (27/51), Oberdorf/VfL Wolfsburg (20/32), Däbritz/Olympique Lyon (27/92) from 73. Lohmann/Bayern Munich (22/16) - Huth/VfL Wolfsburg (31/72), Schüller/Bayern Munich (24/41 ) from 67 Anyomi/Eintracht Frankfurt (22/10), Brand/VfL Wolfsburg (19/22) from 46 Waßmuth/VfL Wolfsburg (25/19). - Trainer: Voss-Tecklenburg
Referee: Kateryna Monzul (Ukraine) Goals: 1-0 Toone (62nd), 1-1 Magull (79th), 2-1 Kelly (110th) Spectators: 87,192 (sold out in London/Wembley)
4 minutes: It's an intense start at Wembley, but Frohms can easily defuse a first header from White in the German goal.
6 minutes: England increases the pressure: A failed cross from the Lionesses creates danger on the German goal line. Afterwards, White also checks out keeper Frohms.
9 minutes: Mead beats Gwinn on the left, dances on the goal line, but her shot misses - and then an offside call is given.
10 minutes: Now the DFB-Elf: Däbritz is served by Huth and takes off with her strong left foot. The shot, which sails towards the left corner of the goal, is blocked.
19 minutes: After a few minutes of midfield battle, the English women get a header in the person of Bronze. Frohms holds safe again.
25 minutes: German offensive efforts hardly take place. Brand grabs a corner with a run to the baseline... and it almost leads to 1-0! A header extension can only be cleared by Mead on the line, then goalkeeper Earps grabs it. The best chance in the game so far! After a VAR check for a possible handball, things continue, but there could have been a penalty for Germany.
37 minutes: The English cannot get into their power football because the German team is defensively very alert and aggressive.
38 minutes: A great chance for the Lionesses, who play behind the German defense from the right. There White comes rushing up, but shoots just over the goal. That used to be the English power that is so hard to stop. But again, it's offside.
halftime
48 minutes: Bright miscalculates and substitute Waßmuth suddenly runs from the left alone towards the English goal. But your shot is too central and too weak. There was more in it!
50 minutes: Magull with the pike! Next strong scene from the DFB team shortly after the break, but the German attacker aims just wide of the left post.
62 minutes: Tooooooooor for England, 1: 0 Toone.
England is ten on the pitch. But Walsh doesn't give a damn. She plays a mega pass over half the pitch with centimeter precision to Toone, who is taking off. The striker stays extremely cool in front of Frohms and chips the ball over the goalkeeper into the far corner. Wembley Stadium is shaking!
66 minutes: Almost the direct counterattack by the DFB women! Magull hits the right post with a shot from 11 yards. The rebound lands on Schüller, but her follow-up shot goes straight to the English keeper.
75 minutes: Magull passes Gwinn, who crosses sharply inwards. Substitute Lohmann jumps in there and just barely misses the ball.
79 minutes: Tooooooooooooooooooooooooor for Germany, 1: 1 Magull.
The late equalizer: Hendrich first runs off an English counterattack and then immediately initiates the counterattack with a courageous sprint forward. Waßmuth gets the ball via Lohmann, who puts it through directly to Magull, who starts in the six-yard space. The industrious midfielder instinctively puts out her foot and skillfully nets it. Earned!
90 minutes: The game is now on the edge of a knife, the tension is palpable. No team wants to make the crucial mistake.
End of regulation time - overtime
101 minutes: The German team is stronger in the first 15 minutes, which is an extra. Real chances don't want to jump out of it yet. It's getting rougher and rougher.
108 minutes: Long-range shot by the English and goalkeeper Frohms easily clears the ball to the outside with his foot, as if it had been a back pass. In a European Championship final, you have to do it like this a good twelve minutes before the end!
110 minutes: Tooooooooooooooooor for England, 2: 1 Kelly.
A standard, of course: after a corner, Kelly blocks himself in the six-yard box and clears the way for the ball in a rustic way. Frohms doesn't see the ball coming and can only drain it. Kelly then somehow poked the ball over the line with the pike. Pure ecstasy in England, frustration on the part of the Germans. Soccer is so brutal!
Final whistle - England is European champion
The German team managed it in a strong way coming back from behind. And that on the biggest of all stages, against a whole stadium full of frenetic Englishmen and women. After the 0:1, the players didn't stick their heads in the sand, but immediately pushed for the equalizer, which consequently came just before the end of regular time.
In general, the team coped well with the dramatic loss of leader Popp and was not intimidated by almost 90,000 fans. No matter which player was on the field, no matter who was substituted on: 100 percent passion and commitment was always recognizable. That is also a compliment to national coach Voss-Tecklenburg. She set her wives in the best possible way and seemed to have delivered a strong speech at half-time as well.
What was good again: the German defense, which is so often decisive in such a final. Whether Hegerin or Hendrich, top scorer Mead was not given a meter. The English only very rarely got into their power football because the German team played very alert and aggressive defensively. The DFB-Elf annoyed the Lionesses and robbed them of the fun. The result was a lot of long balls that, except for the 1-0, were easy to defend.
In the end, as so often in an endgame, a set piece decided the game. In a duel at eye level, every centimeter was fought for, Oberdorf and Magull in particular stood out with their strong play, aggressive and diligent performances.
"What would have happened if...", many German fans will ask themselves. Would the DFB team have won with Popp? The captain, who wanted to win her 120th cap at Wembley (she had never lost there), was missing from the German attack from the start. Without the striker there weren't enough passing opportunities, replacement Schüller simply doesn't have the same physique and presence. As a result, the flanks of the German team posed little danger, there was simply no taker in the penalty area. The DFB-Elf only managed to change their game to a limited extent after realizing that without Popp a different style of play would have been needed.
In the end, the Germans slept one too many times - and that too in the majority. When the English women were 1-0 up, the DFB soccer team didn't put Walsh, who had the ball, under pressure at all. At the back, the otherwise always so confident Hegering misjudged. The transition game didn't work optimally either, because the English were very quick on their feet and there were always many players behind the ball. You can't blame anyone for the decisive corner in extra time, football is that brutal.
First a quick question: Can tinnitus actually be recognized as an accident at work? The final whistle was delayed with extra time, but when Kataryna Monzul blew the whistle after more than 120 minutes, the stadium collectively freaked out. Anyone who had thought after the national anthem that it couldn't get any louder was taught a lesson after the 1-0, was taught a lesson after the 2-1 - and especially after the final whistle. "Football's coming home" and "Sweet Caroline" followed the overwhelming shout of victory, cheered along by the majority of the 87,192 fans.
There's a lot to read about the Wembley Stadium legend, but it's hard to prepare for the experience. It's stunning. The force of Wembley hits you even when empty. It's a massive headwind for the Germans, with most fans wearing white topped with the red cross of the English flag. They yell "England, England" and don't shy away from booing that echoes through the huge stadium.
The German fans in the stands pull it off with the flags, so the black, red and gold is still noticeable in a game that will go down in the history books. There have never been more spectators at a European Championship final, whether for men or women. The previous record is 79,115 fans who attended the 1964 EURO final in Madrid. This game is the frenetic conclusion to a tournament that has pushed all boundaries in women's football.
