Soccer-Women's Euro exit shows once-mighty Germany battling to keep pace

The Star

3 days ago

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - UEFA Women's Euro 2025 - Semi Final - Germany v Spain - Stadion Letzigrund, Zurich, Switzerland - July 23, 2025 Germany's Jule Brand in action with Spain's Patri Guijarro REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo
(Reuters) -A courageous German performance in their 1-0 Women's Euro semi-final defeat by world champions Spain means they leave Switzerland with heads high, but the once-dominant team need to find a cutting attacking edge to keep up with the best.
Spain playmaker Aitana Bonmati proved to be the difference, conjuring up a superb winner in extra time.
Though Christian Wueck's young side performed well on the night, they lackeda truly world-class attacking talent to turn a game in their favour at such a high level.
"We have to evolve, we have to improve, we had phases of ball possession today that we simply did not exploit well, and those are areas where we need to improve, especially in the youth system, so that we can develop well-trained players for the Bundesliga," Wueck told reporters.
"Also (we need to) perform better in those phases of ball possession that were not well-executed today, especially at that level. That is part of being a top team, and of course we are still lacking in comparison to Spain and England."
Spain face England in Sunday's final.
Eight-time champions Germany have not won the tournament since 2013 in Stockholm, and in the meantime they have been reined in and passed by as other countries pour money into the development of the women's game.
The 2013 victory was built on the back of the stunning goalkeeping of Nadine Angerer, who saved two penalties in the final against Norway, and the 2025 squad looked to have a similar net-minding talisman in the shape of Ann-Katrin Berger, who pulled off a miraculous save in their quarter-final against France to prevent an own goal.
Berger followed that up with a stellar performance in the penalty shootout win over the French that followed, but on Wednesday she was caught out by Bonmati's lightning shot from a tight angle to her uncovered near post that ended up as the only goal of the game.
Though Berger took the blame for the defeat, it was not solely hers to bear. Germany had plenty of chances, with Klara Buehl superb down the left, but they lacked the killer instinct in front of goal that Bonmati displayed.
All in all, the Germans displayed plenty of promise as they beat Poland, Denmark and the French in Switzerland, with the only blemish a shock 4-1 defeat by Sweden in which they had a player sent off in the first half.
Though some of his choices have been questioned, Wueck says his focus on young players is paying off.
"I recently read that the (German Football Association) DFB is miles behind the top nations, and three days later I read that we are in the semi-finals. So maybe the Germans need to learn a little bit that we do everything together, that we want the best for the German nation," he said.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)