Match Report: Germany 1–0 France (Euro U17 Women’s Championship)
Germany met France in the first semi-final of the 2022 UEFA Women’s Under-17 Championship. Germany won the game 1–0, courtesy of a brilliant first-half strike from Alara Şehitler. Here are my notes on the game.
Germany in possession / France out of possession
- Germany attack in 4–3–3. Build up with sideways passing between centre-backs and goalkeeper. Keep the ball, but struggle to play through midfield. No side-to-side movement or rotations from midfielders, meaning they are easier to mark. Platner sometimes drops between centre-backs to get on the ball.
- France defend in 4–4–2. Front two moves as a unit to block passes into Platner, but they don’t press the centre-backs. Wingers stay narrow to close off passes into Janzen and Sehitler.
- Germany struggle to find their midfielders and play between France. They are forced (1) out to the full-backs, who are closed down by French wingers or (2) into long balls from the centre-backs, up to the frontline. These long balls rarely find a teammate.
Germany lose possession / France attacking transition
- France defend well but struggle to win the ball near the touchline with pressing from their wingers. Germany simply recycle, going back to their goalkeeper if necessary. Eventually, Germany go long and lose the ball. This gives France the opportunity to counter-attack.
- However, France struggle to keep the ball in attacking transition, giving it away early with poor touches or inaccurate passing. They give Germany chance to attack a disorganised French defence in transition. Germany’s goal came this way.
- When France do win it higher, they are too hasty in their counter-attacks. Their main approach is finding Chossenotte running into the space left by German left-back. But the passing isn’t precise enough. Too often, France counter-attacks came to an early end. They give it away, or don’t build the attack up enough and shoot too soon from long distance.
France in possession / Germany out of possession
- France attack in 4–4–2. Try to play short passes into midfield, with full-backs overlapping and wingers coming inside. But rarely get any combinations going down the flanks. Coutel is the playmaker, showing for the ball and starting the attack. But she struggles physically against the bigger German midfielders.
- Germany defend in 4–5–1. Extra player and greater physicality in midfield. Wingers stay on midfield line to control overlapping runs of French full-backs. No pressure on French centre-backs, but pressing in midfield which France struggle to play through.
Summary + Standout Players
Germany dominated possession, with risk-averse passing between the centre-backs and goalkeeper. France actually defended well, with good organisation in their shape and pressing, but they failed to keep the ball well enough in their transition to attack. What could have been opportunities for France turned into opportunities for Germany, as they quickly regained the ball in midfield due to France’s sloppy play and counter-attacked.
Could France have tried to defend higher and win the ball earlier? Perhaps. But they left it too late to start pressing high. Neither team was able to play between the other, but Germany kept the ball more, did more with their counter-attacking opportunities, and they unsurprisingly seemed the fresher side in the last half-hour.
The two players that stood out to me were:
- Taeryne Job (France, right-back, club Saint-Etienne). Some poor touches, but very quick to recover defensively and won plenty of 1v1 duels.
- Alara Şehitler (Germany, left midfield, club FV Ravensburg). Showed good speed and power, plus quality on the ball, with a lovely left-footed strike to win the game.
If you’re in the UK and want to watch the game, you can on BBC iPlayer. Link below. Thanks for reading!
