Spain lost 2-0 to Germany in their first game of the group stage. It was the third time in the past five matches that Spain conceded in the first three minutes, leaving them with no chance of getting back into the game against Germany. Spain's future at the Euro depends on the result of their final group stage match against the Danes. The biggest surprise has been how predictable the outcomes have been. For the first time in a long time, all the Euros "favourites" have shown up with some of their best football, leaving the second, third and fourth ranked teams powerless to stop them. Each time a nation puts out a statement performance, there is another the next day to change the narrative of which of the favorites would win the trophy. We have yet to have an upset in the tournament, from France saying "hold my biere" two days later against Italy to England reminding everyone that it's coming home this summer. It means that Germany vs. Spain lived up to the hype. Germany came forward with devastating accuracy when Spain looked to get the ball on the ground and move it around. A Spanish team who had struggled to make their ability count was undone by playing out from the back. In their first game against Finland, Spain was caught out in the first minute and went down to Germany. There was only ever going to be one outcome with the young attacker sending her shot low beyond the goalkeeper after a long pass fromSandra Paos. The 36 different players who have scored for Germany in the Euros are the most for any country in Euros history. "We made a mistake in the third minute, but we were going to learn from that," said Spain's manager. We hope that we don't make those mistakes in the future. We have to be prepared to play the game. I don't want the players to play perfect but I want them to compete. With the early advantage, Germany were more comfortable to sit back and let Spain have the ball as they wanted. There was a lack of understanding of who needed to be the one to make the difference in the box despite the fact that Spain had lost a lot of their goal threat. The German defence stood firm as Patri Guijarro was given the freedom to push up into the box. Spain wasn't able to overcome their weaknesses as other countries had, instead suffering the same issues that have plagued them at every major tournament. It's not as farcical as when La Roja lost to England after they'd had a lot of possession, but still troubling for the team who couldn't penetrate the Germans. Vilda said that they didn't let them have a lot of chances. We had more control. In front of the goal, we did not have luck. As a team, we need to stay calm. If we keep doing what I told them, we will get the goals. With a first-half headed goal, Alex Popp made it two-in-two and ended Spain's hopes of taking anything from the game or finishing top of Group B. There's a beautiful game here. You can watch tournaments and teams.
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On Wednesday, July 13th.
• Sweden vs. Switzerland (12 p.m. ET)
• Netherlands vs. Portugal (3 p.m. ET)
On Thursday, July 14th.
• Iceland vs. Italy (12 p.m. ET)
• France vs. Belgium (3 p.m. ET)
The weekend of July 15 and 16.
• Austria vs. Norway (12 p.m. ET)
• England vs. N. Ireland (3 p.m. ET)
Having lost only one match in Euro history after leading at the break, Die Mannschaft put in an excellent second-half performance, not allowing the dynamic Spanish side too many shots at the goal.
When defender Marina Hegering was named the player of the match, the defensive resilience of the German team became clear. Germany again controlled proceedings without the ball, but this time without their best player, Pernille Harder, who was marked out of the game in their first match.
The value of team spirit was on display all night for Germany as the team continued to play in the same way despite being changed. The team on the pitch didn't improve when Vilda went to his bench and found some of the best attacking talent in Spain. The Spanish coach's approach of just asking the team to possess the ball and move it forward was too much for the team to overcome.
We got the second before the break. The team did well when they adapted to a 4-5-1 We didn't have a lot of possession but we wanted to use the switches to attack. Everything worked out this afternoon.
Spain will be the favorite to beat the Danes in their final group match, with the Danes looking off-colour earlier in the day against the Finns.
For all the talk of Spain being the team with their name on their trophy this summer, they would have to follow in the footsteps of the Germany team of 2013 that overcame adversity to win the trophy. The German team won the tournament despite finishing second in their group. There's no pressure on La Roja.
One of Austria or Norway will be Germany's opponent in the quarterfinals, while the final group match will be a chance for the team to rest. The coach will have to shuffle the deck, but it could end up being a training match for Europe.
Hegering said that you can't train confidence. We had a great base for that in the last two training camps.
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