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Advocates of women’s football – and surely plenty of football lovers in general – received a diamond-studded gift on Saturday evening. In the final quarterfinal match-up of the 2025 Women’s European Championship in Switzerland, the German women’s national team team overcame a 13th-minute red card to take a French team all the way to penalties after 120 minutes. Eventually, the DFB-Frauennationalmannschaft punched through to the tournament semi-finals with a win in the shootout. All of Germany revels in the “magic night” at St. Jakobs Park in Basel.
So many storylines emerged from this riveting affair. Germany lost defender Kathrin Hendrich to the early red card. Matters grew increasingly desperate when starting right back Sarai Linder – the second replacement for injured squad captain Giulia Gwinn – had to exit proceedings injured in the 20th. Everything worked against the DFB-XI in the early going. Despite this, Bundestrainer Christian Wück’s team were able to fight back from an early 0-1 deficit caused by Hendrich’s red via over 115 minutes of compelling and inspiring football.
As part of our continuing coverage of the German women’s team here at Get German Football News, we’re pleased to take a deep dive into this historic result. A brief tactics section covers precisely what Wück’s team faced during all the unexpected early bedlam. This will serve as something of a precursor to another GGFN primer piece to be released on Tuesday. The second section – just like an earlier GGFN piece on the tournament – furnishes detailed grades for the players. Ten players are scored. Four substitutes receive brief treatment.
Tactics: “The match-plan that wasn’t”
We’ll begin with Wück’s initial strategy; one that ended up going straight to hell long before Hendrich’s “pony-tail pull”.Linder rolled up her ankle in the 4th-minute and was immediately sent to the sidelines for treatment. The DFB-Frauen thus truly played shorthanded for more-or -ess the entirety of the match. Three changes from the previous fixture saw Wück replace Lea Schüller, Laura Freigang, and the suspended Carlotta Wamser with Hendrich, Giovanna Hofmann, and Franziska Kett.
Germany’s Quarterfinal Lineup (5-4-1)
Wück ended up going with the intrepid option of switching Linder to the right and giving Kett the start. The basic blueprint nevertheless wasn’t anywhere near as complex as one of the examples covered in the tactical primer. Instead, Wück harkened back to the German women’s national team that existed (under ideal circumstances) prior to his arrival. As soon as the team sheets were released, one instantly inferred that Janina Minge was meant to serve as a stand-in for Lena Oberdorf.
Minge’s received Oberdorf’s “pseudo-sweeper” assignment.
The captain’s job entailed breaking up play as an extra-protective measure for the slower and shiftier central defensive corps. At the same time, the speedy young fullbacks and double eights provided promising opportunities on the counter. A genuine shame not to see this in action. We shall never know how well it might have worked. After Hendrich’s sending off and Linder’s exit, Minge moved back into defense. Jule Brand and Klara Bühl stationed themselves just above the half-way line.
Germany in the 21st-minute (4-4-1)
Everyone back helping! Stressful to execute. Even more stressful to watch. As much credit as the Mädels deserve for remaining committed to working together, there were no shortage of moments in which the miracle came close to not happening at all. Two French goals disallowed for narrow offside calls and a French strike off the crossbar at the death made for edge-of-one’s seat viewing. Luck certainly played its role in the outcome.
Luck notwithstanding, anyone watching this match closely will surely agree that the German team steadily grew stronger and more determined as the affair progressed. Such a sight left observers spellbound. Belief within the team burgeoned with each passing minute. Confidence that the Mädels would take the match to penalties flourished among the viewing audience in tandem. A historic football match unfolded before our very eyes.
The collective on the pitch overcame long odds and gradually began to thrive. The collective of traveling supporters in the St. Jakobs Park stands became progressively louder. Even the most burnt-out and disenchanted German football lovers got precisely what they needed here. Call it a tired and worn cliché if one must, but this is truly what football is all about.
Grades: The Marvel that was
Of the ten players scored, four receive the absolute highest marks possible. Kett, Hoffmann, Brand, and Berger – in the opinion of this analysis – counted as the real “mentality monsters” that made this night happen. Minge misses out on perfect marks by only a thin margin. The remaining six players all draw above-average marks. Note that in a game such as this one, a lot of fair criticism – while covered – promptly gets stricken from the record.
Franziska Kett, FC Bayern München
Grade = A+
Wow! Bloody hell wow! In just her fourth international cap, the 20-year-old blew us all away. Kett ran like an indefatigable gazelle, completely owned countless more experienced French attackers constantly trying to confuse her via attack rotations, and generally just played like a fearless firecracker. She dribbled like Gwinn in her prime, broke up play like Oberdorf on her best days, and even reminded one a bit of Ariane Hingst in the way she never shied away from a crunching tackle. Kett possesses all the teutonic tools.
The youngster brings the total German footballing package.It came as no surprise to learn that she began her career as a center forward. One nonetheless finds oneself grateful that she’s been re-trained as a defender. She retains a keen eye for tracking a mark, then running down her moving target with laser-like focus on the tackle she’s about to employ. Excellent shift from this actor. She spent every ounce of energy wisely. Kett was undoubtedly the first heroine of this particular eve.
Giovanna Hoffmann, RB Leipzig
Grade = A+
It definitely feels strange awarding a lead striker who didn’t manage to get a single shot off top marks. As will be repeated several times, however, an unusual game merits unusual grades. Hofmann fought like hell from the very beginning, hunting down every loose ball with ruthless tenacity. She ended up engaging in well over 20 ground duels, frustrating the French to the point of drawing five fouls and countless throw-ins. The 26-year-old took plenty of hits in service of the team, dusting herself off each time like nothing happened. She also repeatedly held the ball up deftly.
Hoffmann mostly pressed right in order to help out Brand and Sophia Kleinherne. It led to some fabulous duels against Sakina Karchaoui and Selma Bacha. Top class stuff from this player. It’s simply fun to watch her dip her head and run like a combat-ready ram after the play. The author would seriously wager safe money on the Bremerhaven-native taking out a brick wall Janet-Reno-style if she had enough ground in front of her. Don’t cross this Hanseatic lass. She’s effectively Birget Prinz at her crankiest all the time.
Jule Brand, Olympique Lyonnais
Grade = A+
Some may consider Brand undeserving of perfect marks in this case. She did screw several efforts horribly wide, connect with only half of her passes, and even got herself booked in the 52nd for a poor tackle on the touchline. It nevertheless cannot be emphasized enough how much her hard work helping out at the back kept the team alive in this match. Jule played the entire match out-of-position and won several balls way back in her own penalty area. She also drew Nüsken’s missed penalty. Most of the wayward passes were technically clearances away.
She rattled off a full eight long forward carries; one way in which she ate up valuable minutes of clock whilst destabilizing and tiring out the opponent. By far the best run came just after the restart. She torched three markers in the 46th. In the author’s opinion, Brand really constituted the unsung hero of the evening. After racking up surely the most colorful heat map of any German player in the pitch, she exited proceedings in the 119th-minute fully drenched in sweat.
Yes, there was some of her trademark scheisty behavior on display.
No, the author doesn’t care.
It served a justifiable purpose.
Ann-Katrin Berger, Gotham FC
Grade = A+
Of course. There remains little else to add about the keeper at this point. Everyone has heard the anecdotes of her late career-rise, her battles with cancer, and her desire to vindicate her 94-year-old grandfather’s years of mentorship and tutelage. Her own admitted issues in saving penalties both during the match and in the shoot-out have to be totally dismissed. Christ, what a save that was in the 103rd! Advocates of the women’s game beam with pride. Simply stated, Berger manipulated the laws of physics. End of discussion.
Janina Minge, VfL Wolfsburg
Grade = A
The captain adjusted to the ad-hoc tactics quicker than everyone else and visibly led the organization of her ranks on the pitch. Interestingly enough, she didn’t garner too many touches or engage in very many direct duels. Whenever called upon, however, Minge certainly made her presence felt. A monster double-tackle on France’s Marie-Antoinette Katoto at 45+5 was emblematic of the whole team’s performance on the night. The whole of the Bundesrepublik buzzes at the performance of the skipper.
Of course, there was the famous incident in the 103rd-minute when Minge (somehow) managed to avoid scoring an own-goal. Major props to the 26-year-old for shaking that off immediately and once again leading the way with the opening goal in the shoot-out. As was the case her makeshift defensive parter Rebecca Knaak (covered below), there were a few flagrantly blown marks from the VfL Wolfsburg professional on the two disallowed French goals. Those simply must be forgiven.
Klara Bühl, FC Bayern München
Grade = B+
Klara succumbed to confusion often in this one as she couldn’t quite figure out what she was meant to be doing. Dropping back in an attempt to assist Kett, she found herself understandably surprised to learn that Kett didn’t really need her help. She then proceeded to tend forward, stringing together some nice combos with Kett, Nüsken, and Brand on the left. Her two efforts on goal left much to be desired, but the assist on Nüsken’s equalizer more than makes up for them. Like Hoffmann, Bühl drew some useful fouls.
The author assesses Bühl’s performance as more than stellar. Direct duels weren’t the greatest as the 24-year-old struggled to sort her positioning out. No bother really. She kept running and made plenty of attempts to get into useful positions up top. A few bad ball losses in transition didn’t really hurt the cause as she was advanced enough to prevent any sort of useful French counters. The ideas remained decent and the FCB professional kept her nerve. That meant a lot as we DFB-supporters all hung on for dear life.
The same applies to her converted penalty.
Elisa Senß, Eintracht Frankfurt
Grade = B+
Our midfield gem found herself fairly rattled early on and didn’t exactly execute touches with beguiling grace. That ultimately didn’t matter much as she did get the job done. Most of her passes weren’t much more than desperate punts. The vast majority of her tackles straddled the line. Her difficulty getting a handle on Kadidiatou Diani in the 19th earned her a swat in the face. One sort of felt bad for Diani (booked in that case) as Senß wasn’t really executing a fair challenge. Senß recovered well to beat Diani fairly in a series of subsequent duels.
One liked watching Senß persistently keep up on the press. She also switched directions quickly in order to help the Germans absorb plenty of dangerous counters. The 27-year-old essentially counted as the most sound tactical player on the pitch, at least insofar as positioning is concerned. Her coordination with Nüsken (also covered below) often went askew, but that owes much to the improvisational actions of her midfield counterpart. The big wins against Diani contributed much to the victory.
Sophia Kleinherne, Eintracht Frankfurt
Grade = B-
Kleinherne – to put it bluntly – looks a rather delicate player. The author surmises that this serves as the reason she often doesn’t receive consideration at the national team level. The 25-year-old appeared very hesitant both on and off the ball in the initial hour or so after her surprise introduction. Before labeling the author a total prick, note that he’s prepared to give her plenty of credit for eventually finding her feet. She did appear much more confident in extra time, not at all shying away from important duels.
The French weren’t exactly shy about targeting her. Kleinherne picked up four fouls. What might have rattled her nevertheless eventually led to her playing stronger. Perhaps “delicate” isn’t the right word after all. The 25-year-old merely lacks a few inches and possesses more of a finesse game. Nothing inherently wrong with that. Plenty of similar words were once leveled at Philipp Lahm. Maybe she deserves to claim the starting right-back slot in the semis. Again, that requires some more thought.
Rebecca Knaak, Manchester City
Grade = C+
As noted above, Knaak had to quickly adjust to the fact that the extra layer of protection afforded to her in Wück’s opening tactical constellation quickly evaporated. Plenty observers of this match considered the cause lost once it became apparent that the not-exactly-speedy Knaak had to go head-to-head with the fast-paced French attacking line. In all honesty, Knaak barely held her own. Wince-inducing moments preceded both French disallowed goals.
The 29-year-old produced excellent stats on ground (89%) and aerial (100%) challenges, but the respective instances in which she engaged (9 and 4) remained rare. Knaak blew plenty of marks whilst getting caught up in ball-watching. She also missed more than a few crosses while head-swiveling on confused marks. Luckily enough for her, the hard work of her colleagues concealed her shakiness.
Ultimately, one doesn’t wish to chastise a 120-minute-warrior who converted her penalty in a match such as this. Even Knaak’s penalty nevertheless wasn’t very well taken. She got lucky in that sense two. The author will lend her plaudits for some damn fine blocks and clearances at critical moments. After the match passed the 90th and 120th-minutes, Knaak stood tall to send the match into added extra time and penalties.
Concrete examples (90+6, 120+1, and 120+2) demonstrate that Knaak contributed her fair share to this fiercely passionate, yet frequently sloppy, victory. Whether or not she should start again in the semis still requires some extra thought. Kindly give the author a couple of days to think such a question over.
Sjoeke Nüsken, Chelsea
Grade = C+
Scoring Germany’s newly elevated vice-captain proves next to impossible. How on earth does one assess the ultimate German “Achterbahn Match”? Without her amazing run and finish on the first corner of the game in the 25th-minute, it’s doubtful the author would even be working on this piece. Then, of course, there’s the matter of her missed penalty in the 69th-minute and the frustration-fueled booking minutes later that will leave her suspended for the semi-final.
Her conversion in the penalty shoot-out merits plenty of bonus points. As football lovers know, very rarely (if ever) does a player who missed a penalty in a match elect to partake in a shoot-out. Nüsken followed this pattern. A keeper taking a penalty through the first five rounds generally means that the selected play signaled that they didn’t wish to take another and forfeited their slot. Nüsken was obvious slated for Round Five here.
The fact that the shoot-out spilled over to seven rounds meant that Nüsken ultimately had to step forward and reclaim her leadership credentials. The 24-year-old handled her task with aplomb, confidently sinking what would end up being the winning conversion. She somehow held the nerve against the maddening “game-theory” implications of penalties and opted for the opposite side as her previous take. The correct decision.
Tactically speaking, Nüsken was a totally mixed bag. She noticeably worked hard at times to keep the midfield structured and won well over 70 percent of her ground duels. At other times, one found oneself straining to locate her. On far too many occasions, she was nowhere near the ball. To her credit, she often came rushing back into frame on a hard midfield track-back to help the team out. That doesn’t totally explain why she was so far forward.
Brilliant in the air on both the goal and several other dead-ball situations, she simply wasn’t coherent in open play. Some clearances out-of-the-back stuck in the memory. Otherwise, she often skipped some of the critical “trench battles” her teammates collectively engaged in. Crazy stuff. The author finds it odd to accord such a vital player an average grade. Of course, practically nothing about this match counted as “normal”.
Non-Graded Players
Lea Schüller, FC Bayern München
Schüller’s body language suggested she remained unhappy about losing her starting role. Even if the writing was on the wall, one sympathizes with her a bit. The 79-times-capped international remains an excellent striker. There remains little to say about her 22 minutes of action. She kept herself forward despite the fact that most of the action took place behind her. Schüller accrued only seven touches.
Selina Cerci, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Cerci relieved Kett at the left back position in the 114th-minute. She picked up fewer touches than Schüller and didn’t participate in the penalty shoot-out. The 25-year-old stayed true to her statements earlier in this competition about being happy to pick up even scant minutes. Cerci appeared buoyant and confident. Nice to see a deserving player finally getting a chance to enjoy herself at a major international tournament.
Linda Dallman, FC Bayern München
One half of the duo brought on by Wück in the 120th-minute specifically for the shootout fulfilled her duty. Before sinking her penalty, Dallmann also influenced the action a bit by peeling off a successful dribble that ate up a few seconds and earned a throw. Mission doubly accomplished.
Sara Däbritz, Real Madrid
The of the duo brought on by Wück in the 120th-minute specifically for the shootout supplied Germany’s only miss of the penalty round. Däbritz also made a mistake on the ball in her few minutes of action. The Round Four penalty take was actually clever. Däbritz unluckily struck the crossbar.
GGFN | Peter Weis
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