European Champions Germany won their second group C game at the World Cup in the USA 3-0 (2-0) against Japan. With Canada's defeat of Argentina later in the night, Germany became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals.
With the help of the 6-0 defeat of Argentina at their back, Japan enjoyed the better of the opening action against the German favourites. The Europeans nearly captured an early lead after ten minutes as Nozomi Yamago had to be at her best to keep out a stinging half-volley by FFC Frankfurt's Renate Lingor (10').
Japan were only rare visitors in the German half. Japanese goalkeeper Yamago could not do anything as Maren Meintert's close range header came off the bar into the path of Sandra Minnert, who made no mistake with the rebound.
And the Germans extended their lead. Tomoe Sakai was dispossessed, allowing Meinert to turn provider for the on-rushing Prinz who slotted the ball unter the reach of Yamago (36').
Germany added another goal, when Bettina Wiegmann sent a weighted ball into the path of Prinz. The defence gave her just enough room and her sliding left-fooded shot curled around the Japanese goalkeeper (66').
After the match, German coach Tina Theune-Meyer was content with her team: "The main factor war our physical advantage. We were able to get a lot of scoring opportunities from that. But we still have a lot aspects of our game that we can improve, for instance, we could be more creative and more solid on the defensive end."
Teh Germans had won their first World Cup match against Canada on Saturday. The group C match took place at Columbus Crew stadium and ended with a 4-1 (1-1) victory for the German team.
The last match of the preliminary round will take place in Washington D.C. on Saturday against Argentina (21.30 CEST) and is broadcasted live on Eurosport.
[db]
[bild1]European Champions Germany won their second group C game at the World Cup in the USA 3-0 (2-0) against Japan. With Canada's defeat of Argentina later in the night, Germany became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals.
With the help of the 6-0 defeat of Argentina at their back, Japan enjoyed the better of the opening action against the German favourites. The Europeans nearly captured an early lead after ten minutes as Nozomi Yamago had to be at her best to keep out a stinging half-volley by FFC Frankfurt's Renate Lingor (10').
Japan were only rare visitors in the German half. Japanese goalkeeper Yamago could not do anything as Maren Meintert's close range header came off the bar into the path of Sandra Minnert, who made no mistake with the rebound.
And the Germans extended their lead. Tomoe Sakai was dispossessed, allowing Meinert to turn provider for the on-rushing Prinz who slotted the ball unter the reach of Yamago (36').
Germany added another goal, when Bettina Wiegmann sent a weighted ball into the path of Prinz. The defence gave her just enough room and her sliding left-fooded shot curled around the Japanese goalkeeper (66').
After the match, German coach Tina Theune-Meyer was content with her team: "The main factor war our physical advantage. We were able to get a lot of scoring opportunities from that. But we still have a lot aspects of our game that we can improve, for instance, we could be more creative and more solid on the defensive end."
Teh Germans had won their first World Cup match against Canada on Saturday. The group C match took place at Columbus Crew stadium and ended with a 4-1 (1-1) victory for the German team.
The last match of the preliminary round will take place in Washington D.C. on Saturday against Argentina (21.30 CEST) and is broadcasted live on Eurosport.
