Brand leads Germany to win, Sweden victorious in Euros
Germany, the eight-time champions, needed patience against the hard-tackling and committed Polish, but Brand made the most of a lapse in concentration when she cut inside two defenders to break the deadlock in the 52nd minute.
The winger then sent in a cross for Lea Schüller to seal the result with a header in the 66th.
Germany lost captain Giulia Gwinn to injury late in the first half after she made a desperate challenge to stop Ewa Pajor from scoring.
Pajor, the Poland captain, was her team's biggest threat and might have levelled the score in the 64th after she sent a German defender flying, only for Germany goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger to stand firm against her centrally placed shot.
Berger later produced a brilliant reflex save to stop Pajor's header.
Like Poland, Berger was making her competition debut. The 34-year-old Germany goalkeeper missed the previous tournament and later said she was diagnosed with cancer for the second time. On Friday she became Germany's oldest player at a European Championship.
Berger was the busier of the two goalkeepers as Poland's central defensive partnership of Paulina Dudek and Emilia Szymczak kept the pacey German forwards in check.
Dudek did not reemerge for the second half, however, presumably because of an injury, and Brand took it as an invitation to steer her team to a winning start.
Germany are looking for their first major title since winning their eighth European Championship in 2013. They went close at the last edition, losing to host England 2-1 after extra time in the 2022 final.
Sweden defeated Denmark 1-0 in the other Group C match earlier.
Filippa Angeldal got the all-important goal in the 55th minute.
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Nine-man Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in a fierce Club World Cup quarter-final overshadowed by a suspected severe leg injury of Bayern's Jamal Musiala on Saturday. Desire Doue opened the scoring into the bottom right corner in the 78th after Harry Kane lost the ball, six weeks after also shining with two goals in the 5-0 triumph over Inter Milan in the Champions League final. Substitute Ousmane Dembele wrapped up matters deep into stoppage time, after the French champions had lost Willian Pacho for a reckless challenge against Leon Goretzka in the 81st, and Lucas Hernandez earlier in stoppage time for elbowing Raphael Guerreiro. Kane headed home in the 87th but was offside, and substitute Thomas Müller could also not help in what was his final Bayern game after 25 years at the club with dozens of titles and icon status. Musiala meanwhile suffered a suspected left leg fracture in a scramble for the ball with Pancho and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on the last play of the first half. Players from both sides looked distraught as German international Musiala, who was making his first start since a muscle injury sustained three months ago, was stretchered off the pitch. While Bayern's campaign is now over, PSG move on into a semi-final against record Champions League winners Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund, who complete the quarter-finals later on Saturday in a rematch of last year's European final. "Moments decide these games, you win or you lose. We never gave up but that's football," Bayern midfielder Konrad Laimer told streaming portal DAZN. Looking at the Musiala injury, he said: "It hurts a lot to lose a player like him. You could see in the first half what a fantastic player he is." Nine-man Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in a fierce Club World Cup quarter-final overshadowed by a suspected severe leg injury of Bayern's Jamal Musiala on Saturday. Desire Doue opened the scoring into the bottom right corner in the 78th after Harry Kane lost the ball, six weeks after also shining with two goals in the 5-0 triumph over Inter Milan in the Champions League final. Substitute Ousmane Dembele wrapped up matters deep into stoppage time, after the French champions had lost Willian Pacho for a reckless challenge against Leon Goretzka in the 81st, and Lucas Hernandez earlier in stoppage time for elbowing Raphael Guerreiro. Kane headed home in the 87th but was offside, and substitute Thomas Müller could also not help in what was his final Bayern game after 25 years at the club with dozens of titles and icon status. Musiala meanwhile suffered a suspected left leg fracture in a scramble for the ball with Pancho and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on the last play of the first half. Players from both sides looked distraught as German international Musiala, who was making his first start since a muscle injury sustained three months ago, was stretchered off the pitch. While Bayern's campaign is now over, PSG move on into a semi-final against record Champions League winners Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund, who complete the quarter-finals later on Saturday in a rematch of last year's European final. "Moments decide these games, you win or you lose. We never gave up but that's football," Bayern midfielder Konrad Laimer told streaming portal DAZN. Looking at the Musiala injury, he said: "It hurts a lot to lose a player like him. You could see in the first half what a fantastic player he is."
