Germany defy odds with shootout win against France

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Germany defied the odds in a chaotic encounter to beat France in a penalty shootout and reach the semi-finals of Euro 2025 - despite playing with 10 players from the 13th minute.
The eight-time champions had Kathrin Hendrich sent off when, in a moment of madness, she pulled Griedge Mbock by her hair in the box.
Christian Wuck's side responded with a stubborn performance, resiliently holding on for extra-time before forcing penalties - and then winning in emphatic fashion.
Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who had produced an outstanding string of stops throughout the evening, was the hero as she made the decisive save to deny Alice Sombath and seal a 6-5 shootout victory.
Not only was Hendrich shown a straight red card after a video assistant referee (VAR) intervention for foolishly tugging at Mbock's hair, but France were subsequently awarded a penalty that Grace Geyoro calmly powered past Berger to put Les Bleues in front.
But despite their double disadvantage, Germany, responded quickly and Sjoeke Nusken equalised with a glancing header to instil a sense of belief back in her team.
Delphine Cascarino had a goal ruled out for offside before the break and Wuck's side fought hard to enter the interval on level terms.
His side remained resolute and were even the better side for periods, while they breathed a sigh of relief when Geyoro had a second goal disallowed as Maelle Lakrar was deemed to be in an offside position in the build-up.
But Chelsea midfielder Nusken was left with her head in her hands when she missed the opportunity to put Germany ahead, sending her penalty straight at Pauline Peyraud-Magnin after Jule Brand had been brought down by Selma Bacha.
After digging deep to take the tie to a tense shootout, Germany scored all but one of their seven spot-kicks, while Berger produced terrific saves to deny both Amel Majri and Sombath.
Their hard-earned reward is a semi-final against world champions Spain on Wednesday at Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich.
What was the main talking point?
With full-back Carlotta Wamser's red card costing Germany in their 4-1 group-stage defeat by Sweden last time out, Hendrich's dismissal was all the more shocking.
At first there was confusion among fans over the reasoning for the VAR check and jeers then rang out as Geyoro calmly converted her spot-kick once the decision had been taken.
German fans remained furious, and it made for a lively atmosphere inside St Jakob-Park as they whistled and booed every decision against their team.
Hendrich's foolishness allowed France to use their extra player to control the game, but they failed to make their dominance count as they lacked quality with the final ball and Germany's defence remained defiant.
While France will be criticised for failing to provide the quality and creativity needed to find the crucial breakthrough with an extra player, credit must be given to the character of their opponents who summoned remarkable strength and spirit to survive in a dramatic encounter.
Even after giving their all, Germany remained composed to slot home six brilliant penalties and celebrated wildly with their raucous fans following Berger's show-stopping decisive save.
Which players stood out?
Wuck named a surprisingly defensive starting line-up and opted to play Giovanna Hoffmann up front instead of Lea Schuller.
Hoffmann, who had come on as a substitute in all three group-stage games, stretched the French defence with her physicality and offered a threat on the counter-attack with her willing runs.
But the star of the show was experienced former Chelsea keeper Berger, who had been criticised for her display in the defeat by Sweden.
Before Geyoro's second goal was ruled out, she made a sublime save to deny Cascarino from long range, while she snuffed out Elisa de Almeida's looping effort near the end of normal time.
Berger, who joined Gotham FC last year, was terrific and, having kept France at bay, the 34-year-old also made a superb leap to claw out team-mate Janina Minge's backward header as it looped towards the net for what would have been a cruel own goal.
The standout stats
Germany have reached the semi-final stage of the Euros for the seventh time since the format changed to a group stage in 1997 - two more than any other nation.
Despite facing 10 players from the 13th minute, and having 73% possession, France had just 13 shots and an xG total of 1.7.
Germany's Berger made nine saves (excluding the shootout) - the second most on record by a goalkeeper in a Euro knockout stage match since 2013.
What's next?
Spain face Germany in Wednesday's semi-final (20:00 BST) after they claimed a 2-0 win against hosts Switzerland in Bern on Friday night.
France exit the competition, but they will have the chance to avenge this defeat when they take on Germany in October's two-legged Women's Nations League semi-finals.
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