A magnificent goal scoring performance by Germany ensured that they will be contesting the FIH Junior Women’s World Cup 2021 final against the Dutch team on Tuesday, April 12. The second semi-final between England and Germany was one-way traffic as Germany steamrollered England in an 8-0 demolition job.
Clever, well-taken penalty corners, commitment in every tackle and every shooting chance, Germany look to have peaked at just the right moment. They got off to the dream start on the day when they scored an early penalty corner goal.
The goal was created and scored by Verena Neumann who ran the ball into the circle to win the penalty corner and was then the beneficiary of a penalty corner variation, which saw the ball played back to her as the injector. She stooped low to sweep the ball into the net.
England were left stunned just two minutes later when Germany doubled their lead through a fantastically taken drag flick from Stine Kurz. Two penalty corner goals meant the England defence were nervous about conceding another corner.
A reluctance to make a tackle would explain why Jette Fleschütz was able to run through the defence and pop the ball past Mila Welch in the England goal to give her side a seemingly unassailable 3-0 lead after 15 minutes.
Pauline Heinz increased England’s pain in the second quarter. England had started to make their own in-roads, with Sophia Martin making a great interception but was unable to finish with a goal. However, Germany went on a counter attack which saw Julie Bleuel drive forwards before slipping the ball to Sara Strauss.
Strauss’s shot rebounded to Pauline Heinz, who was able to fire the ball home, much to the dismay of the England team.
Germany’s conversion rates from penalty corners continued to impress as they added to the scoreboard with a third penalty corner from just five attempts.
Neumann was able to repeat her first goal as the penalty corner was played back to her as she moved from the injection point towards the goal. Neumann scored her hat-trick a minute later when she latched onto a shot into the circle and just did enough to wrong foot Evie Wood who had replaced Welch in the England goal.
Two more goals followed. Sophia Schwabe capped an impressive performance with a goal after Strauss had shown her commitment with a full-length diving effort at the end of the pitch to keep the ball in play and send it back to Schwabe.
Then Lily Stoffelsma finished things off with a craftily lifted ball over Woods in the final seconds of the match.
Player of the Match Verena Neumann said: “It was not our best game but we went out as a team and we won it as team. I think we are really happy to play the Netherlands. We know them well and we want to beat them.”
The Netherlands beat India 3-0 in the first semi-final of the day. England will now take on India in a repeat of the bronze medal playoff from the 2013 edition - which India won on penalties.
The third-place playoff takes place on Tuesday, April 12, at 1700 hrs IST, followed by the final on the same day at 1915 hrs IST.
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