London, July 9 (BUS): Germany’s record-breaking ninth European Championship bid got off to a sure start as they beat Denmark 4-0 in the opening match of Group B on Friday.
Reuters reported that an early goal by Lena Magul and two second-half goals from Lea Schuler, Lena Latwin and Alexandra Pope at Brentford Community Stadium ensured Germany could maintain their record without losing an opening game in the Euros.
It was a remarkable revenge for the Germans, who lost 2-1 to Denmark in the previous tournament’s quarter-finals in 2017. The Danes went on to finish the season as runners-up that year, but were unable to take on rampant Germany this time. .
Germany shook the woods three times in the first 15 minutes but finally made the breakthrough in the 21st minute when Magul overpowered defender Stein Pedersen and won the ball past the goal and smashed it past goalkeeper Len Christiansen.
Martina Vos Tecklenburg’s side could have extended their lead before the break but were either thwarted by Christiansen or their waste.
Kristiansen did well to deny Magul early in the second half when a long-range shot was caught by the midfielder. However, from the resulting corner, Schuler rose to a high to meet Magul’s cross and head it into second place for Germany.
Denmark did not threaten and conceded the third goal in the 78th minute when substitute Latwin knocked out midfielder Lina Oberdorf.
Another substitute, Bob, who missed the 2017 edition through injury, put a glimmer on the late-goal record by scoring her 54th goal for her country, while 19-year-old Denmark’s Katherine Muller-Kohl was eventually sent off straight to book second.
“We played a great game. We played it right away and created a lot of scoring chances that we didn’t really take advantage of in the first half. We were incredibly controlling and aggressive. It was a great team effort by everyone involved,” Voss Tecklenburg said.
A large number of 15,746 spectators were Denmark fans who made their voices heard the entire time, but coach Lars Sondergaard was disappointed that his team could not do justice.
“The support was great, and the atmosphere was crazy – also after the match. The most disappointing thing for us is that we couldn’t do better, and I hope we can do that in the last two games of the group,” he said.
Germany leads the group with three points with Spain, which beat Finland 4-1 earlier. Denmark next plays Finland on Tuesday, while Germany plays Spain later that day.
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