July 7, 2001

Germany wins UEFA Championship again

By Thorsten Frennstedt

Germany 1 Sweden 0 ( In extra time)

Germany defended the title of the European Championships in front of the second biggest home crowd ever, 19,200 in the Donau stadion in Ulm. Their opponents from Sweden forced the favourites to a golden goal after a draw in regular time.
The goal was scored by Claudia Muller after 8 minutes of extra time. Claudia scored twice in the inaugural Germany-Sweden, however she was replaced from the start by Sandra Smisek.
Sweden put on an extraordinary strong performance and dominated the first half, stopping the German midfielders. Malin Moström was the best Swedish field player. Caroline Jönsson made some crucial saves proving that she is a world class keeper. Apart from the previous goals against Germany finals Caroline did not let any in during the other matches. It was one of Sweden´s all time best internationals against a high ranked team. All the Swedish players performed at their highest level, in a manner that has not been seen for many years. They just missed a decisive goal. Victoria Svensson and Therese Sjögran got their chances. The Germans Smisek and Muller kept Caroline Jönsson in action. The rain made the pitch a little slippery but the good thing was a that it was a little lower temperature than during the two weeks tournament.