►► For the first time in eight years Germany booked the quarterfinals in the Euro 2024 after goals from Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala secured the host a 2-0 win over Denmark in last 16 at Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park on Saturday.
Berlin | Germany took the reins from the starting whistle and thought they had opened the scoring with just four minutes played but Nico Schlotterbeck’s opener was ruled out due to a foregone foul play.
Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel had his hands full of work, denying the dangerous efforts from Joshua Kimmich and Havertz as Germany pressed for the opener.
The flow of the game got disrupted as the match was suspended due to severe weather at the half hour mark.
After the restart, Germany should have opened the scoring, but Havertz couldn’t beat Schmeichel by header while Schlotterbeck headed into the side netting.
Denmark showed signs of life in the closing period of the first half but Rasmus Hojlund couldn’t overcome Germany custodian Manuel Neuer after a counterattack.
After the half time, Denmark’s Joachim Andersen got a goal disallowed due to an offside position by Thomas Delaney.
Andersen remained in the thick of things as his handball inside the box handed Germany a penalty. Havertz stepped up and converted the penalty to break the deadlock in the 53rd minute.
Havertz had the chance to make it two moments later, but the Arsenal striker couldn’t beat Schmeichel following a one-on-one.
Denmark opened up and pushed forward but for all that Neuer was equal to Hojlund’s effort on target in the 66th minute.
Schmeichel was hapless two minutes later as Schlotterbeck set up Musiala, who scored with a well-placed curl into the top right corner to put the win beyond doubt.
Denmark never recovered from the second blow whereas Germany remained wasteful with their finish in the closing stages.
« We started well and scored early on. It was a hectic clash due to the suspension, but we showed resilience. We should have scored more goals though, » said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann.
The Germans will face either Spain or Georgia in the quarterfinals on July 5.
by Xinhua
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