Six of the best for rampant Germany

Germany 6-0 Netherlands
Germany underlined their status as favourites for UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™ in Finland next month, producing a stunning performance to emphatically defeat fellow finalists the Netherlands.

Japan test
Silvia Neid's team were four to the good by the break in Sinsheim following an own goal by Netherlands goalkeeper Loes Geurts and efforts from Inka Grings, Melanie Behringer and Birgit Prinz. Although the contest lost some of its intensity after the break, Germany – who play Japan in another friendly on Wednesday – were still able to extend their lead through Simone Laudehr and Célia Okoyino Da Mbabi.

Perfect start
Both teams employed attacking 4-2-3-1 formations, although it was Germany who quickly put their opponents on the back foot in front of a crowd of 22,531. After Linda Bresonik and Behringer issued early notice of the German intent, the pressure told on nine minutes when Prinz burst through the Dutch defence and had her effort deflected in by Geurts. No sooner had Vera Pauw's side digested the shock of conceding they fell further behind seven minutes later, Grings capping a solo run with a cool finish.

Relentless pace
The Netherlands remained under considerable pressure as Germany continued to carve out chances at will and only a goalline clearance from Manoe Meulen denied Prinz. Karin Stevens' tame effort on the half-hour mark was the Netherlands' first shot of note but any hope they had of gaining a foothold in the match soon evaporated when Behringer rifled in a long-range free-kick eight minutes before the break and, two minutes later, Prinz headed in a cross from her 1. FFC Frankfurt team-mate Kerstin Garefrekes.

Scoring substitute
The Oranje did, however, force Nadine Angerer into action twice in quick succession before the interval, though it was Germany who struck again 12 minutes after the restart when Prinz fed Laudehr, who deftly lobbed Geurts. A flurry of substitutions followed thereafter, one of whom, Da Mbabi, rounded off an emphatic performance with a shot from the edge of the area in added time.

Neid pleased
Neid, the Germany coach, said: "I am really pleased with the passion my players showed today. We are in a good way but the games against Japan and Russia will be more difficult. We have a good blend of young and experienced players and things are looking good, we have all the injured players back."

Honest assessment
Manon Melis, the Netherlands striker, admitted that the manor of the defeat has come as shock to everyone. "We were under constant pressure from the very first minute," she said. "You can lose against the world champions, but 6-0? We hoped that we had closed the gap to the best teams over the last few months but obviously this is not the case."

Germany: Angerer (Holl, 46); Bresonik, Bartusiak (Krahn, 46), Hingst, Peter; Laudehr (Bajramaj, 77), Kulig; Garefrekes (Stegemann, 46), Prinz (Da Mbabi, 59), Behringer; Grings (Müller, 59).

Netherlands: Geurts; Bito, Meulen, Koster (Spitse, 71), Hogewoning; Kiesel, Hoogendijk; Smit (Van de Sanden, 71), Melis, Van den Ven (Pieëte, 58); Stevens (De Ridder, 58).