Germany deny France in thriller

Germany fought back from a goal behind at the break to defeat France 3-2 in Group A as the inaugural UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship got off to a thrilling start at the Olympia stadium in Helsingborg, Sweden.

Müller hat-trick
France went in 2-1 ahead at half-time after two goals from Claire Morel cancelled out Barbara Müller's 20th-minute opener. Germany, however, winners of the last two UEFA European Women's U-18 Championships (the former guise of this competition), showed their class after the break and secured the three points as Müller completed her hat-trick with two further strikes.

Perfect records
Of the eight nations contesting the competition these two sides were the only ones to negotiate the qualifying round with perfect records and something had to give in front of a lively crowd of 1,042. France began brightly as their skilful, industrious midfield established early dominace.

Intriguing duel
Germany goalkeeper Miriam Elling had to be at her best to consistently frustrate the French forwards, particularly Morel with whom she waged an intriguing duel. Midfield player Viola Odebrecht grew in influence as Germany settled and she orchestrated a fine move which ended with Müller curling in the opening goal.

Deft finish
France rallied and had a great chance to level in the 34th minute but Morel tried to turn one defender too many and the chance went begging. Two minutes later she was not to be denied, however, as she finally beat Elling with a crisp shot after brilliantly controlling an Anne Laure Casseleux free-kick. Morel's second goal, coming five minutes later, was even better as she collected the ball eleven metres from goal and exquisitely clipped it in with the outside of her right boot.

Empty net
If the first half belonged to Morel then the second was definitely Müller's. She pulled her side level in the 56th minute, showing no little strength and skill to evade the challenge of Marie Claude Herlem before skipping past goalkeeper Geraldine Marty and rolling the ball into an empty net with the first meaningful chance of the half.

Expert lob
The winning goal owed as much to the vision of Anja Mittag as to the brilliance of Müller. Mittag picked the ball up in the centre circle after Odebrecht won a 50-50 challenge and picked out Müller with a superb chipped past. No doubt buoyed by her previous two goals, the striker composed herself before lobbing the ball expertly over the advancing Marty.

Coach 'proud'
Germany coach Silvia Neid was "proud" of the character her side showed after being outplayed in the early stages. "The opening ten minutes were not so good, but the following 20 were excellent," she said. "Morel was very good but we dictated the play after the break. We got better as the game wore on and the team played tactically very well."

'Disappointed to lose'
Neid's opposite number, Bruno Bini, was justifiably downbeat after the game. "It is always difficult to qualify when you lose your first game," said the France coach. The excellent Morel, who had little chance to add to her two first-half goals after the interval, said: "It was a good game and we are disappointed to lose. We played well and if we carry on like that we should qualify."

Next games
Germany are next in action against Spain on Saturday, the same day as France tackle hosts Sweden.