Germany walks away with 4-0 win after slow start

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This article was published 15/06/2015 (4069 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Favoured and top-ranked Germany goes through easily to the elimination games of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but only after an uneven effort produced a 4-0 victory over outmatched Thailand Monday at Investors Group Field.

Germany finished Group B play in first place with two wins and a draw but got a downright post-match grilling from its home press for having failed to throttle the Thais more thoroughly.

The match was just 1-0 at half-time on a goal in the 24th minute by Melanie Leupolz but put comfortably to bed by a pair of headers just three minutes apart by Lena Petermann just before the hour mark.

“We didn’t play how we wanted to,” said Petermann, 21, after recording her first two goals on the women’s senior world stage. “We didn’t get wide when we got the ball so the midfielders didn’t really know where to play because their outside wingers were still in the middle so they couldn’t play wide. We didn’t put enough pressure on our opponent.”

Leupolz was equally unhappy.

“I wish we had had a better match for the team to give us a little bit more self-confidence,” she said. “Unfortunately we missed that but the only positive thing is we did win.

“We should been faster playing down the feel. We should have seized opportunities better. It took so long and that Thais were able to set themselves up. We should have pressured them more on the wings.

“We were superior in headings but we didn’t really seize that opportunity as well and it made it hard for us to dominate the game.”

German coach Silvia Neid was grateful for Petermann’s offence that took some of the pressure off, but it didn’t soften her players’ message.

“She took the balls and she got the reward,” Neid said of Petermann. “We were glad when the 2-0 and immediately the 3-0 happened.”

Before Leupolz opened the scoring, Thailand’s quickest player, Kanjana Sung-Ngoen, had a run down the field in the clear, but failed to take a shot as she got into the box.

“We rarely managed to demonstrate superiority,” Neid complained. “We took too many people along. There weren’t any diagonal passes. We didn’t use empty spaces. We didn’t keep the speed up.

“It was 1-0 and we kept worrying, thinking that if the Thais played to their (number) 21, she could be dangerous.

“The second half, I think they managed to implement the strategy better. In the end we’re glad we won the group and we’ll see who will be our next opponent.”

Neid agreed with questioners that mistakes will not be so easily forgiven from here out.

“If you’re up against stronger opponents like Norway, you won’t be given 10 opportunities,” she said. “You have to seize the two or three you get and turn them into goals.”

The Thai side, ranked just 29th in the world, were diligent defenders, especially in the first half. They were organized and quick but in the end, the Germans’ advantage of size and skill showed up in the statistics and made a big difference.

Possession numbers favoured Germany, the 2007 World Cup champs, 65-35. Attempts at goal were a ridiculous 36-2 and it was 16-0 on target.

While Thailand gained respect for the grit, they have much to do to be more competitive, coach Nuengruatai Srathongvian said.

“We played a good game against Germany and we accept the fact their experience was much better,” Srathongvian said. “They have a great deal of competence preventing (us from getting) high balls, which is our weakness.

“This is a great experience for us. We learned a lot of things from this. We have to develop, we have to choose players who are bigger and stronger and better prepared in fitness and speed and have experience in international matches.

“But we gave our best effort.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca