- Aisling Hannon
- Mon, Jul 24 2023
Germany cruised to victory in their first fixture of the 2023 Women’s World Cup after snatching a 6-0 win over Morocco at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on Monday.
Two first-half headers from star striker Alexandra Popp, followed by a Klara Buhl early second-half strike, two own goals and a late hit from Lea Schuller gifted the Germans a ruthless win.
Morocco were certainly the underdogs going into this fixture, sitting 72nd in the FIFA rankings with Zambia being the only team ranked lower than them in this tournament.
It was the first ever meeting between the two sides, and the Atlas Lionesses made history of their own by being the first North African and Arab team to play at the tournament.
Germany, however, came into this competition as two-time champions with their sights set on winning it again for the first time since 2007.
Despite key players Lena Oberdorf and Marina Hegering missing out on this fixture due to injury, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side took just eleven minutes to open the scoring after a comfortable start to the game.
Morocco’s Yasmin Mrabet lost possession in the build-up which led to Kathrin Hendrich taking the ball to her feet before whipping in a brilliant long cross from the right.
Skipper Popp found herself unmarked in the box and ready to meet the cross in order to head it home and take the early lead.
From there, Morocco didn’t appear too panicked and had some chances of their own. Ghizlane Chebbak produced a long, powerful strike with 25 minutes on the clock, but goalkeeper Merle Frohms had time to move and make the save.
With five minutes to go in the half, the Germans made it two when Buhl’s corner kick was whipped in perfectly to meet the head of Popp, who buried it into the net for her 64th international goal in 129 appearances.
The third goal was scored just ten seconds into the second-half when Buhl sent a brilliant ball into the danger area from the left where it met Jule Brand to tap it down for Lina Magull in the middle.
The latter hit the crossbar, but Buhl was waiting on the left to hit a low strike through the Moroccan defence.
A couple of Moroccan chances followed, with Chabbak taking a low-slung shot to test Frohms in goal. Anissa Lahmari hit the net but was quickly ruled offside.
It shortly became four for Germany as Hanane Ait El Haj turned the ball into her own net.
Brand had lifted the ball towards goal from a corner kick for Magull to chase down, but it was ultimately drifted into the net by the Moroccan defender in an unfortunate situation as the team struggled to deal with the set piece.
A scrappy fifth followed with ten minutes of normal time to play and again, it was an own goal from a set piece.
Goalkeeper Khadija Errmichi punched the ball out of danger from a corner kick but hit it onto the head of her own defender, Nakkach, who went to ground in the process, but several German players were ready to tap it in.
It was Mrabet who got the final touch after being closed down on the touchline from the German attack, including Popp who was on a hat-trick.
A difficult day for Morocco was then rounded off when substitute Lea Schuller made it six in the 90th minute after Lena Lattwein’s shot was saved before Schuller was there to fire in the rebound.
A seventh goal was clocked in the final minute, but Schuller’s header through the legs of the goalkeeper was denied after Laura Freigang took an offside touch in the build-up.
The Germans return to Group H action on Sunday, July 30th, when they take on Columbia, while Morocco face South Korea in the early kick-off.
Germany Women: Merle Frohms; Sara Doorsoun-Khajeh, Kathrin-Julia Hendrich, Svenja Huth, Felicitas Rauch (Chantel Hagel 89); Klara Bühl (Nicole Anyomi 64), Sara Däbritz, Melanie Leupolz (Lena Lattwein 64), Lina Magull (Lea Schüller 64); Jule Brand, Alexandra Popp-Höppe (Laura Freigang 83).
Subs not used: Stina Johannes, Ann-Katrin Berger, Sophia Kleinherne, Marina Hegering, Sjoeke Nusken, Sydney Lohmann, Lena Oberdorf.
Booked: Nicole Anyomi (75).
Morocco Women: Khadija Er-Rmichi; Hanane Ait El Haj, Yasmin Mrabet (Nesryne El Chad 82), Zineb Redouani; Sarah Kassi, Anissa Lahmari (Salma Amani 67), Elodie Nakkach (Najat Badri 82), Sakina Ouzraoui (Soa Bouftini 90); Rosella Ayane (Ibtissam Jraidi 90), Ghizlane Chebbak, Fatima Tagnaout.
Subs not used: Ines Arouaissa, Assia Zouhair, Nouhaila Benzina, Rkia Mazrouai, Sabah Seghir, Kenza Chapelle, Fatima Gharbi.
Booked: None.
Referee: Tori Penso.
Attendance: 27,256
extratime.com Player of the Match: Klara Buhl (Germany).
