BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — She had the save of the tournament so far, two stops in the penalty shootout and a successful spot kick of her own. Ann-Katrin Berger pulled out all the heroics for Germany on Saturday.
Germany recovered from going a player and a goal down early on to hold France to a 1-1 draw in their Women’s European Championship quarterfinal and triumph on penalties.
A stunning team performance saw Germany stifle the France onslaught and when Les Bleus did get through they came up against the impassable Berger.
The Gotham FC goalkeeper was — unsurprisingly — named player of the match but Berger was quick to deflect the praise for her display onto her teammates.
“I was not happy that we had to go to a penalty shootout … but I think, I did my part of the game now,” Berger said. “Because the team, in 120 minutes, they worked incredibly hard and I think that all the credit should go to the team, not me.
“Maybe it was the decisive moment in the penalty shootout, but everyone here should talk about the performance of the team because that was amazing and incredible.”
“Amazing” and “incredible” could also be used to describe Berger’s performance.
The 34-year-old saved nine of the 10 shots she faced, with her best of the night — and possibly of the whole tournament — coming in extra time when a backward header from Germany captain Janina Minge had Berger scrambling back to scoop it off the line with an astonishing one-handed stop to spare her teammate’s blushes.
Stars in shootout
Then came her heroics in the shootout.
Berger saved the first penalty she faced, from Amel Majri, and clinched a 6-5 victory in the shootout when she dove to her left to deny Alice Sombath and spark Germany’s celebrations.
That secured a spot in Wednesday’s semifinal against Spain in Zurich.
Berger was part of the Germany squad that lost to England in the final of Euro 2022, although she was an unused substitute. She revealed afterward that she had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer for a second time during that tournament.
Berger managed to beat the disease again and the only outward sign is a tattoo on her neck with the phrase “All we have is now” that she got done to cover the scars.
“I feel like I’m not a really emotional person,” Berger said. “I am glad I’m here and I am glad that I have the team I have.
“Obviously the time here just makes me proud to be here and whatever happened in 2022 is in the past and I am looking forward now to the future and, for me now, I live my best life and I am in the semifinal.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Daniella Matar, The Associated Press
