EURO 2009 FINAL - ENGLAND 2 - 6 GERMANY

Inka Grings and Birgit Prinz scored two goals apiece Thursday to lead defending champion Germany past England 6-2 in the women's European Championship final.

It was the fifth straight Euro title for two-time defending world champion Germany, which beat England for the 17th time in their last 19 meetings.

Germany were ruthless in attack where they took their chances when given and they outmuscled England in the midfield.

Goals from Karen Carney and Kelly Smith twice kept England in contention but the world champions were ultimately far too strong.

The game started badly for England as Germany went 2-0 up inside 21 minutes as first Birgit Prinz and then midfielder Melanie Behringer found the net.

At that stage it looked like it was going to be a stroll for the Germans, but England were not prepared to lie down and Carney halved the deficit within two minutes of Behringer's goal. Jill Scott then almost got England level before the break with a header that was cleared off the line by Behringer

Germany re-established their two-goal advantage six minutes into the second period when Simone Laudehr's shot hit the post and the ball was only cleared as far as Kim Kulig who finished with ease.

Hope Powell's side again showed their fighting mentality four minutes later when Carney slipped in a fine ball for Smith, who turned and finished brilliantly.

That was as close as England would get and goals in the final half hour from Grings, twice, and Prinz, who scored her 125th international goal, ensured that Germany lifted their fifth European title in succession and their seventh out of the last eight.

Inka Grings won the adidas Golden Boot as UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009 finals top scorer – matching her feat of four years ago in England. She scored 6 goals in the Tournament and was named player of the match for the final.

Lineups:

England : Rachel Brown, Alex Scott, Faye White (C), Anita Asante, Casey Stoney, Karen Carney, Jill Scott, Fara Williams,Katie Chapman(Emily Westwood 86),Kelly Smith, Eniola Aluko (Lianne Sanderson 81)

Germany : Nadine Angerer,Linda Bresonik,Annike Krahn,Saskia Bartusiak,Babett Peter,Kerstin Garefrekes(Fatima Bajmaraj 83) , Simone Laudehr,Kim Kulig,Melanie Behringer(Célia Okoyino da Mbabi 60),Inka Grings, Brigit Prinz (C)

EURO 2009 - UPDATE

SEMI-FINALS



We are now down to the last four in the Uefa Women's Euro 2009.
England, Germany, Netherlands and Norway.

England will play the Netherlands on Sunday 5pm BST.
They booked their place in the semi's with a gritty performance against the hosts Finland. Winning 3-2. England had more of the ball and the better of the play but the Finn's were always dangerous with long balls and set pieces. Saint Louis Athletica's Eniola Aluko scored 2 goals to to take England through taking her tally for the championships to 3 goals and earning her the player of the match. Midfielder Fara Williams scored her 2nd goal of the tournament. Captain Faye White is out of the tournament with a broken cheek bone.



Germany overcame an up for it Italy to go thorough to the semi's 2-1. 2 goals from forward Inka Grings who overcame a knee injury sealed it. Both goals coming at the start of each half.
Grings is now the leading scorer for the tournament on 4 goals.
Germany will play Norway on Monday 7th September.


Netherlands booked their Semi-Final day with England with a win over rivals France by a penalty shoot-out which they won 5-4. The game was all France but the Dutch bunkered in and got stuck into the French team to stop them playing. It was not pretty but it was effective.
With several players from both teams missing their penalties to take their team through young dutch midfielder and postergirl Anouk Hoogendijk stepped up to put her team through.




Norway the last team to make it through with maybe the surprise result of the tournament with a 3-1 win over their rivals Sweden. With luck on their side with the first goal Norway rattled Sweden out of their stride to book a date with Germany. In the end they were composed, compact and played well on the counter attack. One which accounted for their 3rd goal by 2nd half substitute forward Cecile Pedersen, who stroked the ball passed the goalkeeper with the outside of her right foot after out running the last defender. Brilliant goal which brought delight to her teamates and coach.

Semi-finals - Match kick-offs are listed in CET

06/09	England	18:00	Netherlands
07/09	Germany	18:00	Norway

PREVIEW 2009 UEFA WOMEN’S EURO CHAMPIONSHIPS

In less than 30 days some of the top countries in women’s football will be competing for the right to be called European champions. The championships in Finland will play host to some of the biggest names in women’s football. Here at Womans Soccer Insider we take a look at the nations , their star /key players and brightest new talent. Who will end up in WPS. Can anyone stop the Germans? We will give you our thoughts and more over the next few weeks leading up to the start of the Championships. First up - Germany.



Germany are the no1 ranked team in Europe and they are no3 in the world only behind USA and Brazil. They have won the European Championships a total of 6 times and they have won the last 4 in a row.Oh…. they are also the reigning World Cup winners, winning in 2003 and 2007. So , yes they are very good and the favourites to win. They know how to play tournament football. However they are on somewhat of a rebuilding stage. After finishing 3rd at the Beijing Olympics last year some of their influential players have retired and some are coming back from injury. Head coach Silvia Neid has introduced new faces and brought back some old faces to get the German machine going once again. Who can stop them indeed.

During qualifying for this years championships the Germans won all 8 matches scoring 34 goals and conceding just 1.



Inka Grings (Key Player).

Germany have some of the best players in the world in their position - Striker Brigit Prinz, GK Nadine Angerer, RB Kerstin Stegemann come immediately to mind, but we have identified Inka Grings as their key player for the Euro 2009.

Inka is the top scorer in the women’s Bundesliga in Germany for the past two seasons. Scoring 29 goals in the league this season. She is the Bundesliga’s most prolific scorer ever. Captained FCR 2001 Duisburg this year to 3rd place in the Bundesliga, German cup winners and UEFA European cup winners.
Scored a goal in her comeback game against China this year after been recalled back to national team duty by Silvia Neid. Grings had not played for Germany for nearly 4 years for various reasons.
Grings has added a predatory goal attack to the already professional German machine.



Fatmire Bajramaj (Fresh face)


At 21 years of age Bajramaj has forced her way into the national team.
Playing mainly from midfield Bajramaj adds spark whenever she comes onto the field. She has pace and skill to take defenders on and create chances for her teamates.
29 caps 3 goals for Germany, Fatmire has been used mainly as a substitute. This year she has played her way into the starting 11.
2008/2009 season finished on a high for Fatmire. Played for FCR 2001 Duisburg she was a German Cup winner and a European Championship winner. Scoring 4 goals.

Now hoping to make her mark at a major tournament for Germany.