World Cup: Germany Too Strong for Debutants Chile

World Cup women: Germany vs. Chile 4: 1 (2: 1)

Germany succeeds in opening the World Cup

At the World Championships in Spain and the Netherlands, the Danas made a successful start to the tournament. In Amstelveen, in the Wagener Stadium, they defeated the World Cup debutants from Chile 4-1. Densie Krimerman met Losada for the South Americans. Pauline Heinz, Anne Schröder and twice Charlotte Stapenhorst, who was also named Player of the Match, scored for Germany.

First half: Danas are coming into the World Cup well

The Danas started the game with a lot of possession and trying to build the game through midfield. The South Americans started defensively by pressing from the half-court. Nevertheless, Germany managed to carry the ball forward again and again, over several stations. It took a good seven minutes before the first chance of the game came up. Sonja Zimmermann was able to prevail against three Chileans from a counterattack. The ball then came into the circle on the right side, to Lena Micheel. She was able to finish, but just missed the right post. From this point on, the Danas were fully in the game and pressed for the opening goal. In the ninth minute, Pauline Heinz completed a long corner from the edge of the circle. With the Argentine backhand, she hit the ball in the bottom left corner – 1-0 for Germany. Although Chile continued to have grip after the setback, they were often unable to do much against better Danas. The team of national coach Valentin Altenburg was only missing in the last consequence in front of the Chilean goal. With a 1:0 lead for Germany we went into the quarter break.

The second 15 minutes started similar to the first quarter. Germany largely controlled the game. Chile played boldly, managed a few counterattacks and moves, but were mostly stopped by a German player in the circle of shots. In the 20th minute of the game there was the first penalty corner for the Danas. Nike Lorenz failed at the first outrunner of the Chilean women. Just a minute later, however, the bell rang for the second time in Chile’s goal. Played from back to front in a flash, Charlotte Stapenhorst got the ball alone in front of goalkeeper Claudia Schuler. The experienced striker didn’t hesitate and scored in the 22nd minute to make it 2-0 for Germany. After the goal, the South Americans came back into play. In the 27th minute they were able to win a penalty corner. Denise Krimerman reduced Losada to 2:1 with a vigorous scrubbing in the lower right corner. The first half ended with a second penalty corner for the Danas, but it didn’t find its way into the goal either. After 30 minutes, the Danas deservedly led 2-1.

Second half: Germany lives up to the role of favourites

The second half of the game started with a penalty corner after 46 seconds for the Danas. Pia Maertens slipped in to take the shot, but the Chilean goalkeeper Claudia Schuler saved at the last moment with her schooner and deflected the ball onto the crossbar – a sensational save. A few minutes later followed the fifth penalty corner for Germany. But even after this, the Danas could not record a goal. Nevertheless, the German team pressed for a goal again more than in the first half. They hardly let the Chileans out of their half and won one circle entry after the other. Penalty corners six and seven could not extend the lead either. Only the eighth penalty corner brought the Danas the long overdue 3:1. Anne Schröder scored after a decent variation for Danas. That’s how it went in the last quarter break.

The German team played the last quarter of an hour calmly and confidently. Nathalie Kubalski still had almost nothing to do and the game took place in the Chilean half. Only the penalty corners didn’t improve for the Danas. In the 54th minute the referees gave Chile another penalty corner. The penalty corner was taken and immediately turned into a counterattack for Germany. Charlotte Stapenhorst was there again and made the 4:1 preliminary decision in the 55th minute. The game ended with more opportunities for the Danas. But no more goals were scored. Germany defeated Chile 4-1 in the first group match of the World Cup.

Comments on the game:

Valentin Altenburg, national coach:

“It was a fantastic World Cup opening game. It was the first World Cup game in the history of the Chileans who brought incredible emotion to the pitch. It was a very special moment when the team sang the second verse of their national anthem alone. “Your coach Sergio Vigil is my great coaching role model. I’ve known him for a long time and he set his team up for us fantastically in the first half. We struggled to create chances and it was only through our effectiveness that we were 2-1 up at half-time. I give the girls credit for going into halftime with a lead. We changed a lot in the second half and were able to play a very dominant second half. The defensive was the cornerstone for a lot of “Danas hockey”. Ball went well, we created a lot of chances and scored nice goals at the end.I’m very happy with my team, who didn’t do well against Chile today just had.”

Julia Sunday:

“That was a good start for us. We got into the game quickly and, above all, defended well. We picked up the ball early and played the resulting counterattacks well. We weren’t able to reward ourselves with every scoring opportunity, but that’s it something we want to keep working on. Overall, it was a successful start today, in which you could see that we were able to implement what we had planned to do in terms of play, tactics and fighting.”

Anne Schroeder:

“I would say it was a good start. I think you could tell we were a bit nervous at the beginning of the game, but that’s totally okay. That was a super special game against an opponent we didn’t know at all. We have We fought well into the game and, above all, played a great second half. We had a lot of possession and we only have to work on the corner variations. Now we’re looking forward to the classic against the Netherlands.”

Pia Maertens:

“We started the World Cup well. We didn’t expect it to be easy against Chile. Especially in the early stages we struggled against pressing, which got better and better as the game progressed. We have a really good second half played, but we have to reward ourselves with a lot more goals overall. We can still build on this game optimally.”

Game details: