Germany dazzle in Oldenburg

Germany took a giant stride towards qualifying for the 2005 UEFA European Women's Championship with a 6-0 win against Ukraine in Oldenburg. Tina Theune-Meyer's now only need one point from the remaining two games against Scotland and the Czech Republic to reach next summer's final tournament.

Rampant Germans
The 13,857 spectators at the Marschweg-Stadion saw Germany take the lead within two minutes, Birgit Prinz the scorer, and added a further three goals before half-time. Isabell Bachor scored in the 31st minute, Sandra Minnert found the net nine minutes later and Sandra Smisek made it 4-0 seconds before the interval.

Prinz pair
Germany continued to dominate proceedings in the second half, although it was not until the 65th minute that Petra Wimbersky added a fifth. Prinz then scored her second of the night and her 71st goal for the German national team to complete the victory.

Thrilled Theune-Meyer
Theune-Meyer was naturally delighted with her side's dominant display, saying: "I am very pleased. We were a lot better today than we have been in recent games. We were enjoying ourselves out there again and we played some good combination football."

Unblemished record
It was Germany's sixth consecutive victory in qualifying Group 4, giving Theune-Meyer's team an eleven-point advantage at the head of the standings. The Czech Republic are in second place, albeit with two games in hand, but Germany can confirm their progress to the finals against Scotland on Sunday.