Germany coach calls for improvement amid goalkeeper headaches
Germany are happy to be in the women's Euro 2025 quarter-finals, but coach Christian Wück has criticised the team's accuracy and said that the risky play of goalkeeper Ann-Kathrin Berger is giving him headaches.
The record champion came from behind to beat Denmark 2-1 on Tuesday, and their passage into the knock-outs from Group C was confirmed when Sweden beat Poland 2-0 later in the day.
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Germany and Sweden will play for first place in the group finale on Saturday, with the quarter-final opponents for both to come from strong Group D which includes title holders England, past winners the Netherlands, and France.
More accuracy required
Wück said that his team often played "not clean technically" in attack, an issue "we must urgently stop. It is really important that we work on it and have the basics on the pitch from the back to the front.
"The first contact is the first thing that stands out - and that's the difference between the absolute top teams when I think of France and Spain. We will tackle that," he said.
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Mentality paved the way
But Wück also said he was happy to see that his team showed a lot of mentality and fighting spirit in a match where they lacked on the technical side but prevailed from Sjoeke Nüskens' penalty and forward Lea Schüller.
"We don't have to hide from any nation. But of course we have to make sure that we reach our absolute top level with everyone in the team," Wück said.
Berger headaches
While youngster Carlotta Wamser did well again in defence as replacement for injured captain Giulia Gwinn, Wück was not happy with Berger's way of playing - most notably dribbling against Danish players instead of kicking the ball away.
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It worked out on all three occasions but Wück said that "I will sit down with her so that we can find other solutions - otherwise I won't grow old."
Berger, 34, insisted that the incidents looked more dangerous from the outside and that she had "a really good feeling on each occasion."
She admitted "I would probably do it again" because it was her way of playing football which she could not completely abolish.
But she added: "If the coach is saying something different now then lets see whether I will continue doing it."
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