Germany hold crisis meeting to regroup for Euros quarter-final
Zurich
Record champions Germany held a crisis meeting on Sunday as they need to regroup from their biggest defeat in Euros history and turn their attention to the quarter-finals.
Germany were crushed 4-1 by Sweden and had Carlotta Wamser sent off in a defensive meltdown on Saturday.
Improvement will be needed if the eight-time champions want to advance on Saturday where strong France could be their quarter-final opponents.
'We already sat down this morning as a team,' midfielder Sjoeke Nüsken said, adding that 'there will definitely be changes' in the line-up.
Playmaker Laura Freigang vowed: 'We have seven days to prepare and we will make use of them.
'Of course it brings you back down to earth. It's the kind of day you'd prefer not to have during a European championship. But I'd rather have it today than any other day because now we have knock-out games,' she added.
Coach Christian Wück gave the players the rest of Sunday and Monday off before having to act as crisis manager in his first big tournament with the team.
But he said defiantly: 'We are down but we will get up again. We will shake it off and then go into this quarter-final with joy and courage. No matter against whom - whether it's France or England or the Netherlands.
Wück's main task will be to regain defensive stability as the back line collapsed even before Wamser's red card because Sweden had already reversed an early German lead from Jule Brand through Stina Blackstenius and Smilla Holmberg.
Wamser's handball for which she saw red resulted in Fridolina Rolfö`s penalty for 3-1 in the 34th, and Sweden got as fourth from Lisa Hurtig with 10 minutes left.
Wück will have to make changes at the back but doesn't have a lot of options.
The suspended right back Wamser was already playing in place of captain Giulia Gwinn, who suffered a tournament-ending knee injury in their opening 2-1 win over Poland.
The coach rules out a major system change after the high pressing approach backfired badly against the Swedes.
'We must not make the mistake of blaming or pillorying parts of the team now. I think it would be wrong to say that we only want to react now and only want to destroy,' he said.
Captain Janina Minge also warned against rigorous defensive tactics, insisting: 'I don't think we should change our entire system now.'
Saturday's defeat means that Germany now face a much more difficult path in their bid to reach the July 27 final than if they had won on Saturday to finish top of their group.
France, who have impressed in Switzerland and beat Germany in last year's Nations League semi-finals are the likely opponent. A potential semi-final could be against world champions Spain who have been the best team so far at the Euros.
Sweden, by contrast, will probably face title holders England or the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, and if they advance the winner of Norway v Italy.
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