\u201cI just love the moment,\u201d says Ann-Katrin Berger, as she enthusiastically discusses her love of penalty shootouts. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the best parts of being a goalkeeper \u2013 you can only look good!\u201d<\/p>\n
Less than 30 minutes before her post-match chat with FIFA, Berger had been the central figure in a dramatic Germany victory over Canada. The Olympic quarter-final tie finished goalless, with penalties required to determine who would progress to face USA in the last four.<\/p>\n
Berger was the star of the show in the shootout \u2013 brilliantly saving from Ashley Lawrence and Adriana Leon, before stepping up to slot in the winning kick herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always liked to shoot penalties,\u201d she added. \u201cIf I have nothing to do in training, sometimes I\u2019ll take a few. It\u2019s quite a lot of fun. Not only the strikers and midfielders can score, the goalkeepers can too!<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore taking this one [against Canada] I was surprised that I was able to calm myself down. I didn\u2019t feel any pressure. I was surprised it was that easy for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Germany defender Kathrin Hendrich admitted she didn\u2019t expect to see Berger step up to take the crucial fifth spot-kick. She explained, however, why the goalkeeper\u2019s temperament made her a perfect candidate for such a high-stakes situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw her in the goal, then she was in front of the goal! I\u2019d never seen her take one in a game before! But she is such a relaxed person, I knew she would score. It was a very tough game, but when it went to the shootout, I knew we had a great goalkeeper. It gave us confidence \u2013 and she got us the victory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hendrich also paid tribute to Berger\u2019s influence off the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnn-Katrin is just a very special character,\u201d added the Wolfsburg full-back. \u201cShe is very calm but has a lot of humour too. She cares about everybody \u2013 she is always thinking about other people ahead of herself. And, of course, she is a fantastic footballer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berger\u2019s heroics have kept Germany\u2019s title hopes alive at Paris 2024 \u2013 but the goalkeeper insists improvements will be needed if they are to overcome USA and reach the gold medal match. The Americans proved too strong when the teams met in the Paris 2024 group stage, running out 4-1 winners in Marseille.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to be better than the last game, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d said Berger. \u201cWe have to focus on taking our goalscoring opportunities. That was the worst part of the first game against the US. We know they have a really good attack, but we believe we can exploit them [with our attacks] as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giulia Gwinn believes nothing less than a complete performance will be enough for victory \u2013 but is convinced Germany possess the collective quality and mentality to turn the tables on Emma Hayes\u2019 side.<\/p>\n
\u201cOffensively, they are so strong,\u201d said the Bayern Munich ace. \u201cWe have to defend really well and use our chances offensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw in the group stage, they scored four goals against us and for us it\u2019s like\u2026 We want to give it back [to them]! We are collectively strong \u2013 and if we take our chances, we\u2019re dangerous for every opponent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are super happy after beating Canada. It gives us confidence because after 120 minutes and a big fight, we got through. We\u2019re excited about what\u2019s to come. We know it will be tough against the US, but we will be ready for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI just love the moment,\u201d says Ann-Katrin Berger, as she enthusiastically discusses her love of penalty shootouts. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the best parts of being a goalkeeper \u2013 you can only look good!\u201d Less than 30 minutes before her post-match chat with FIFA, Berger had been the central figure in a dramatic Germany victory over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1010838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20966],"tags":[9648,27192],"class_list":["post-1010837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fifa-news","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1010837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1010838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1010837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1010837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1010837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}