Germany too strong for Sweden

Germany continued their march towards a third FIFA Women’s World Cup™ title after convincingly beating Sweden 4-1 in the Round of 16 at Ottawa's Lansdowne Stadium.

Despite missing an early slew of chances with woeful accuracy, Germany’s Anja Mittag was the first to find the scoresheet. After intercepting a poor pass out of the back by Sweden, the No11 linked up well with Celia Sasic for a quick give-and-go, enabling Mittag to fire past Hedvig Lindahl, hitting the far post on the way into the side netting.

Ten minutes before the break Sasic scored from the penalty spot after Mittag was dragged down in the box to double the Germans’ advantage. Sofia Jakobsson nearly pulled one back for the Swedes seconds before half-time but she could not manage to keep her header down.

Germany continued to control possession and keep Sweden penned in throughout the second half, and Silvia Neid’s side got their third through Sasic in the 78th minute, who headed into an empty net after Simone Laudher’s initial strike hit a Swedish defender and deflected off the post to leave Lindahl with no chance.

Jakobsson pulled one back for Sweden late on, heading home Therese Sjogran’s free-kick, and Sweden’s No10 nearly pulled level two minutes later but Nadine Angerer did well to stop her.

Dzsenifer Marozsan made the victory safe for Germany with a sliding, looping shot that arced over a diving Lindahl and settled into the top corner.

Credit: FIFA.com