da dobrowin： Lea Schuller made the difference as Germany secured a place at the Olympic women's football tournament in a 2-0 win over the Netherlands on Wednesday.
da supremo： Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
Germany secure Olympic qualificationBeat the Netherlands 2-0 to do soHalf-time sub Schuller the game-changer GettyTELL ME MORE
Chances were at a premium in what was far from a classic encounter, but it was Germany who regularly came closest in this Women's Nations League third-place play-off, with the winner to secure a place at the Olympics. Chelsea star Sjoeke Nusken thought she'd given the visitors the lead in Heerenveen midway through the first half, only to see her well-hit effort bounce off the inside of the post and back out, while Alexandra Popp's header would've certainly broken the deadlock just before the break had she directed it anywhere other than right at Daphne van Domselaar.
Then Germany made a change at the break that paid dividends. Those came almost immediately, too, but for the offside flag to deny half-time sub Lea Schuller a quick goal. The Bayern Munich striker made Germany much more dangerous going forward as they peppered Van Domselaar's goal, both her and Nusken bringing the best out of the Aston Villa shot-stopper. However, she had no chance with Klara Buhl's emphatic finish just past the hour and Lena Oberdorf deserves a lot of credit for the way she kept the ball alive in the box, too.
Lineth Beerensteyn constantly looked like the Netherlands' best bet at getting on the scoresheet with her quick runs in behind but the most notable look at goal she got was just before Germany's opener, a driving run ending with a shot that was easy for Merle Frohms to hold. Instead, Schuller made sure of the result with a deserved goal 12 minutes from time, Van Domselaar only able to watch as her header nestled in the corner to seal third-place in the Nations League for Germany and, with it, a spot at the Olympic women's football tournament this summer.
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This was always going to be a difficult ask for the Netherlands. The Dutch lost a key player in January when Jill Roord suffered a devastating ACL injury while with her club, Manchester City, and two more were absent on Wednesday after the Arsenal duo of Vivianne Miedema and Victoria Pelova returned to London for reasons that are thus far unspecified.
The 2017 European champions have made impressive progress under Andries Jonker but qualifying for this summer's Olympics just proved to be too much of an ask at this moment.
GettyTHE MVP
Who else but Schuller? Germany lacked a focal point until her introduction, with Popp so often dropping deep to defend and then needing to get all the way back up the pitch to be there for the attack. Schuller's presence meant that there was always someone keeping the Dutch defence busy, though, and she was lively in her play, too, as Germany created chances aplenty to win the game.
GettyTHE BIG LOSER
Van Domselaar deserved a clean sheet for her performance on Wednesday, really. The Aston Villa star made some truly fantastic saves, most notably to deny Nusken just after the break and then, a few minutes later, to get a glove on the ball as Schuller raced into the box. But with the Netherlands struggling to get out and unable to stifle Germany's second half performance, it was inevitable that she was beaten.