Germany defeat France in shootout to reach Euro semis
With the well-organised Germans defending doggedly, France had two goals ruled out for offside and Nuesken had a second-half penalty saved.
Even before the penalty shootout, Berger pulled off a contender for the 'save of the tournament', back-pedalling before diving acrobatically to claw away Janina Minge's misdirected defensive header and keep the scores level.
Germany's Ann-Katrin Berger makes a save. — Reuters
With neither side managing to score in extra time the game went to penalties, and Berger got the shootout off to a great start for the Germans by saving from Amel Majri, but they were brought back to level pegging when Sara Daebrtiz struck her spot kick off the crossbar and over the goal. Berger, a cancer survivor who sports a tattoo to cover up a scar from her treatment that says 'All we have is now', then fired home from the spot herself before making her decisive save. She dived to her left to deny 21-year-old defender Alice Sombath, sending the Germans through to the last four.
They will face Spain on Wednesday, a day after England face Italy in the other semifinal.
'For large parts of the game, you wouldn't notice we were one (player) less. I am incredibly proud,' Germany captain Minge said of her side's resilient comeback.
'I have to say, the fans were unbelievable. I don't know if I have ever experienced anything like that. You could see that we are ready for something big.'
'We know we'd done the hardest thing by opening the scoring against a team reduced to 10 (players). Penalties are difficult, we know that, and it's a shame for Alice because she's young and learning. You also have to take your hat off to Germany,' dejected France coach Laurent Bonadei said. — AFP
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