With a 4-1 (1-1) victory against Poland, the German women’s football team has come one step closer to participating in the 2025 European Championship. With a good performance in the second half, the victory is also a barometer for this year’s Olympic Games.
Bundesliga player Natalia Padilla-Bidas put the Polish team in the lead in the first minute. It took over half an hour to equalize – and some help from the Polish team: it was only an own goal by Wiktoria Zieniewicz (34th minute) following a corner that made it 1:1. The game went into halftime with the score tied.
In the second half, however, the Germans turned things up a notch. The offensive style of play allowed Poland to make a few counterattacks, but most of the time it was only the German team that was attacking. Finally, Lea Schüller (77th) converted the extra chances into a measurable success after a defensive error by the Poles and made it 2:1. Two goals from Giulia Gwinn (84th and 88th, penalty) completed the victory.
Still “too many mistakes” before the Olympics
Despite the clear victory in the end, national coach Horst Hrubesch was self-critical, especially in view of the approaching Olympic Games. “We made a few too many mistakes,” said Hrubesch 55 days before the start of the tournament in Paris.
Despite being in the lead for almost 90 minutes, experienced striker Alexandra Popp also said: “The first half was absolutely not good from us.” Among other things, she criticized the lack of consistency in the offense. “We played 30,000 crosses before that and didn’t score a goal,” said Popp’s teammate and goalscorer Schüller, referring to their late opening goal.
One more win to qualify
Nevertheless, after three wins in three European Championship qualifying matches, Germany is at the top of its group with nine points, ahead of Austria and Iceland (each with 4 points) and Poland (0 points). The German players will meet the Poles again in Gdynia on Tuesday (6 p.m.) and can make the qualification perfect.
With a 4-1 (1-1) victory against Poland, the German women’s football team has come one step closer to participating in the 2025 European Championship. With a good performance in the second half, the victory is also a barometer for this year’s Olympic Games.
Bundesliga player Natalia Padilla-Bidas put the Polish team in the lead in the first minute. It took over half an hour to equalize – and some help from the Polish team: it was only an own goal by Wiktoria Zieniewicz (34th minute) following a corner that made it 1:1. The game went into halftime with the score tied.
