Today´s match-up feature Germany vs. Japan and England vs. France - both very intriguing games.
Germany is heavily favored to move on and defeat Japan. In their last game against France the looked like a new side. Their coach had made the wise decision to bench their star player Brigit Prinz who had a major fit and meltdown when she was subbed against Nigeria. The German press have been all over that one. Against France the German side looked like its old self. Inka Grings, who is #8, was particularly forceful. The German side did not completely dominate against a talented French team. They should, however, have an easy time with Japan. It will be size vs. speed. Against France, two of the German goals were headers. Expect them to rely on set plays and putting the ball in the air.
England and France should be a fun game. These are not traditional power houses in the women´s game like on the men´s side. The English team has been getting better throughout the tournament. The French main goalie was red carded in their last game so will not be eligible to play and their reserve goalie looked shaky at best against Germany. So we think England will win this one.
We will go downtown Frankfurt to watch these games at the Fan Fest with a nice atmosphere.
Tomorrow we head for Augsburg to watch Sweden - Australia.
I'm still in awe about the Germany/Japan game! I can't believe that Germany is defeated! When the game went into overtime, I thought they would put in Prinz.
ReplyDeleteLeah
We agree Leah! We thought for sure that Prinz would come in especially in a must win game like this. They have a lot of pictures and posters of the German team here and Prinz is always front and center. She is the face of this team. Prior to the tournament, she was the biggest star. So she goes from shining star to the inner chamber of the doghouse over the span of two games. The coach really must not like her. But the German coaches will surely criticize her decision not to play Prinz.
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