Brand stars as German women open up Olympics with convincing win

The German women's national team have defeated the 2023 WWC semi-finalists Australia in their opening group stage match of the 2024 Olympic football tournament. Horst Hrubesch's "Frauen-Nationalmannschaft" dominated Tony Gustavsson's "Waltzing Matildas" in open play and also scored two goals off dead balls. Just under a year after their humiliating exit in the World Cup group stage, the DFB-Mädels got their Olympic games off to the best possible start with a 3-0 win in Marseille. 

Hrubesch made three changes to the XI that delivered a convincing win over Austria in the pre-tournament European Championship qualifier. Chelsea Ladies star Sjoeke Nüskens took the place of the injured Lena Oberdorf. As had been hinted at, squad captain Alexandra Popp took Oberdorf's in midfield. Popp - taking the starting slot of Laura Freigang - started alongside Oberdorf's roster replacement Janina Minge in a double-six set up. The formation shifted from a 4-4-4-2to a 4-2-3-1. A once again fit Marina Hegering replaced Bibiana Schulze Solano to complete the three personnel changes. 

After something of a nervy and cagey start from both sides, Brand engineered the first major chance of the match after ten minutes. The Wolfsburg winger flashed over from ten meters out on the half-right. The counter preceding the play was once again deftly set in motion by DFB keeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who collected two assists in the most recent win. The Germans continued to look self-assured and confident in their play and traffic mostly flowed one-way. Hrubesch's team nevertheless narrowly escaped conceding the opening goal in the 19th when a Hegering passing error created an Aussie chance. 

The DFB-Mädels avoided a repeat of the disastrous outing against Iceland when Cortney Vine missed out on the chance to bury Hegering's mistake. Five minutes later, Hegering redeemed herself with the opening goal. The 37-times-capped international netted her fifth goal in the national team colors by rising high to head home a Klara Bühl free-kick in the 24th. The Matildas nearly equalized two minutes after that. Mary Fowler was only denied the 1-1 via a last-ditch tackle from Giulia Gwinn. Most of the duration of the half belonged to Germany, well organized by Popp in the middle and not afraid to run deep attacks. 

Despite a top-notch opening 45 from the likes go Popp, Brand, Gwinn, and Bühl, the first-half concluded with Germany only up 1-0. The best chance to double the advantage came in the final minute of normal time. Nüskens saw a close-range effort blocked following a nice cutback from Lea Schüller. Popp then sent a follow up effort over the bar. Hrubesch pulled the trigger on one change at the half, replacing his starting ten Nüsken (who had her problems standing up to the Aussie back-line) with Bayern's Sydney Lohmann.

Brand's exceptional form from the first half carried over to the second. The 21-year-old sent efforts wide in the 49th and 52nd. Brand might have been a tad too unselfish in the 56th, attempting to set up Schüller after an excellent deep ball-win against Aussie center back Clare Hunt. Schüller had the 2-0 on her boot, but was only able to fire into Alanna Kennedy's stomach. The second German goal finally came on another set-piece in the 64th. Schüller cooly converted a Gwinn corner for the team's second headed tally. 

Brand would net a well-deserved goal on the 3-0 four minutes after that. Exquisite work on the counter from Popp, Schüller, and Sarai Linder in the 68th enabled Brand to stuff home from close range on the right. It appeared as if Popp had scored the third headed German goal off a dead ball in the 72nd when she sent a corner into the back of the net. The supposed 4-0 was disallowed due to a tight offside call. Impressively enough, Hrubesch's team didn't back down despite the insurmountable lead. Bühl and the subbed-on Vivien Endemann both made their own bids prior to the full-time whistle. 

After completing two consecutive shut-out victories, the Germans still face a difficult road ahead in the tournament's most difficult group. The four-time World Champion USWNT beckons next on Sunday. The DFB-Mädels must also face Zambia, who defeated them in a friendly last summer. The team also began last summer's World Cup campaign with a 6-0 rout of Morocco before their fortunes were heartbreakingly reversed via a loss and draw in the final two group stage games,