German women open World Cup with 6-0 rout of Morocco
Martina Voss Tecklenburg's German women's national team have gotten their 2023 Women's World Cup campaign off to essentially perfect start with a 6-0 win over Morocco in their opening group stage game.
The DFB-XI stormed out of the gate with confident and courageous play. The final scoreline, on the other hand, owed a great deal more to the fact that their opponents - one of eight debutantes playing in the competition - completely imploded.
The German women's national football team - tapped by many experts as favorites to capture their third World Championship in this summer's FIFA Women's World Cup - have opened their tournament with a 6-0 thrashing of Morocco in their opening group stage game. In a match reminiscent of the blowout win over Denmark in last summer's Euros, the Frauen Nationalelf completely snapped the necks of their opponents. Alex Popp recorded a brace whilst attackers Klara Bühl and Lea Schüller also recored goals. The remaining two tallies came via Moroccan own-goals.
The DFB-XI stormed out of the gate with confident and courageous play. The final scoreline, on the other hand, owed a great deal more to the fact that their opponents - one of eight debutantes playing in the competition - completely imploded.
Having to do without two of her defensive anchors after both incurred injury in the final pre-tournament friendly, Bundestrainerin Voss-Tecklenburg made two personnel changes from the loss to Zambia earlier this month. Sara Doorsoun took the place of injured center back Marina Hegering while Melanie Leupholz took over for versatile midfielder Lena Oberdorf. The DFB-XI again lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
After a somewhat nervy start from both sides in the opening 10 minutes, Popp was able to put the Europeans in the lead with her famous aerial prowess. Jule Brand capitalized on a Moroccan turnover and sent alert central defender Kathrin Hendrich up the right flank. Hendrich immediately picked out Popp with a cross. The DFB captain timed her jump perfectly on the 11th-minute 1-0.
Voss-Tecklenburg's team continued to dominate proceedings with a compelling performance marred only slightly by a few passing errors out of the back that enabled the Atlas Lionesses to counter. Sara Däbritz found the back of the net in the 33rd, only to see her goal chalked off due to an offside position. Some six minutes later, Popp completed her brace with a goal that would count.
Popp furnished an almost unbelievable finish off a Klara Bühl corner in the 39th. Facing away from the goal, the German football legend nonchalantly headed a blind finish past Moroccan keeper Khadija Errmichi whilst making an acrobatic dive. Popp would narrowly miss out on an opportunity to complete a hat-trick with another effort shortly before the first half was out.
The African World Cup debutants proceeded to fall apart after the restart. A furious opening attack charge from the Germans saw Bühl and Jule Brand carve through the Moroccan ranks all too easily. Bühl polished off the 3-0, sending in the rebound of a Lina Magull effort that hit the crossbar. One minute after a potential pull-back goal was disallowed for offside, the Germans went up 4-0 in the 54th.
Moroccan defender Hanane Ait El Haj tripped a Svenja Huth cross into her own net. The North African center back unfortunately couldn't sort her touch out with Magull lurking right next to her. With the match effectively decided, the Germans comfortably turned tricks past their devastated opponents for the duration of the match. Däbrtiz hit the post while Brand narrowly missed on a pair of efforts.
The 5-0 came courtesy of some more slapstick. Morocco's other central defender, Yasmin Katie Mrabet Slack, deflected a German corner towards her own net. Defender Zineb Redouani couldn't control an attempted clearance off the line. The very active Brand instigated the 6-0 in the 90th. Brand's sublime carry enabled substitutes Lena Lattwein and Lea Schüller to get on the scoresheet.
Schüler powered home Lattwein's rebound to give the Germans a half-dozen goals on the day. Schüler herself nearly completed a brace at 90+7, but saw her second goal disallowed for offside. Following this win, Voss-Tecklenburg's side will get set to prepare for their next group stage match against Colombia this coming Sunday.