The German women’s national team concluded a successful October international period with a 2-1 comeback win over Japan in Bremen. A matchup of two top-five rated women’s teams, this was a serious tune-up for both sides as well as a preview for next summer’s Women’s World Cup. Having already handled Australia, Germany bolstered its credentials with a convincing display of their strength and resolve.
Oh, and Bayern Munich players scored all three goals.
Match highlights as well as the full match streamed by the German football channel are available on YouTube.
Jersey Swap: Momoko Tanikawa
No FC Bayern bias here — Momo was the star of the night for Japan! The Bayern forward scored a splendid goal in the 14th minute to give her side the lead. It was the only one that came off for her on the night but not the only time she showed her prowess: her awareness of where to be, how to move to receive the ball in the best available pocket of space, her finesse in shaking off her markers in the box to carve space for the shot, and finally her ability to put in a sweet, clean strike of the ball. That one left her club teammate, Ena Mahmutovic, with no chance at all despite having made only the scantest of errors — arguably — in her positioning. Tanikawa is a class apart and put in a good shift for Japan in this international period.
Die Kaiserin: Janina Minge
It was a respectable day overall for Mahmutovic, the Bayern keeper in her second straight start for Germany in Ann-Katrin Berger’s absence, though she did not have much to do. The only effort on target outside of the goal was a Tanikawa curler late on that missed its mark and fell tamely into her hands.
Instead, the German defender who perhaps made the biggest difference was Janina Minge, the Wolfsburg center-back who was one of two half-time substitutes for head coach Christian Wück. Minge cleaned up at the back with six clearances and also stood out among the defenders with her distribution — completing 46/50 passes in just a half’s work and, notably, being 8 of 11 with her long balls, including several strafing deliveries from near the halfway line deep into the left flank.
It should be noted that Sophia Kleinherne skated with trouble in the closing minutes of her match when, as the last defender, she earned a yellow for bringing down Japanese captain Hana Takahashi, who was off and away in transition towards the German goal.
Die Fußballgöttin: Elisa Senß
This is an odd one. The numbers look brutal for Senß compared to midfield partner Sjoeke Nüsken, who was more involved in the passing game and even logged more defensive contributions according to Sofascore. However in this author’s memory of the match, Senß was plenty involved in breaking up Japanese possessions, and it was her sharp interception of a goal kick near midfield that led directly to Germany’s crucial second goal. Senß read Japanese keeper Ayaka Yamashita all the way, and not only raced to be first to the ball but also managed to hit it first time through the Japanese lines to Linda Dallmann upfield — placing her teammate in a position to play-make and create the goal.
Die Bomberin: Linda Dallmann
That goal arrived as a hockey assist for substitute Melissa Kössler but Dallmann had plenty of her own glory from the night, starting with her excellently taken goal to bring Germany level in the first half. Dallmann escaped her marker and then charged into space opened up by Klara Bühl’s forward drive in order to be available for her Bayern teammate’s cutback. When the ball arrived, Dallmann was arriving too, in the box and with no defenders anywhere near her. It still required an excellent touch, composure, and an emphatically hit shot that thundered into the roof of the net. The indefatigable Dallmann was a menace all over the field and has a strong claim to Player of the Match. However…
Meisterin of the Match: Klara Bühl
While Dallmann played a key role in both goals, so too did Klara Bühl. The Bayern winger worked herself to the ground covering ground all night and fought hard for her just rewards. For a while it looked like that would once again be hard to come by. Bühl, at times, has needed more help from her teammates in the box, and on more than one occasion she made the run, delivered the cross to the right danger area, only for nobody to have arrived. She finally found the connection near the half-hour mark with Dallmann, with an aid from another Bayern teammate, Franziska Kett, to spot her run and slip her through.
Later in the half, Bühl had a glorious chance to score and put Germany ahead when she received, laid off for Nüsken, and then continued her run in behind for striker Nicole Anyomi to backheel the next ball to her in open green. Bühl drove into the box, took out the arriving defenders with her last touch, and curled a credible effort that flashed only narrowly wide. It was one of those Big Game Bühl moments of magic — conjured up by her from start to finish — that deserves to be memorialized even though it didn’t come off.
And then there is her goal, which game in the 73rd minute and would stand as the winner. It came at the end of a swift Germany transition and thus required fast thinking and an excellent finish to bury it, left-footed and through a defender’s diving legs, from a wide angle. Kössler’s swerving assist was excellent, but Bühl still had much work to do. She finished with aplomb, as she so often does, and earned her team the win.
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