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Football - 13. June 2019.

Hosts, Germany edge closer as Nigeria bounce back

  • Germany and France on the verge of qualifying for the last 16
  • Korea Republic on the brink of elimination after losing against Nigeria
  • Reaction and more: #NGAKOR#GERESP and #FRANOR Live Blogs

Germany and France each put one foot in the Round of 16 after exciting, hard-fought victories over Spain and Norway respectively. Sara Dabritz was the Germans' match-winner, while Eugenie Le Sommer's clinically dispatched penalty maintained the hosts' unblemished start.

Nigeria, meanwhile, hauled themselves back into contention with a 2-0 win over Korea Republic. The Taegeuk Nangja are not officially eliminated but this latest loss leaves them needing a convincing and seemingly unlikely win over Norway to keep their hopes alive.

Nigeria 2-0 Korea Republic

Team reporter analysis

Ann Odong (NGA)
This was a deserved win for the Super Falcons. They did everything asked of them: kept their concentration in defence, worked hard in midfield and finished off their chances in attack. Key points and key goals have given them a chance to advance from the group stage for the first time since 1999.

Hounche Chung (KOR)
Despite producing their best performance of the tournament so far, Korea Republic failed again to get the result they wanted. It was all the more disheartening for the Taegeuk Nangjaas they dominated possession throughout, only to fall victim to two quick counter-attacks.

Germany 1-0 Spain

Steffen Potter (GER)
In their first game without the injured Dzsenifer Marozsan, we saw a more reactive German side. It was a team that looked for goals in transitional play and scored the match-winning goal from such a situation. I don't think we will see that same approach against perceived underdogs South Africa in the last Group B match, but without their playmaker, Germany might well resort to this style in the latter stages, utilising some of their young, pacey players.

Elisa Revuelta (ESP)
Spain needed a perfect performance to beat or draw against Germany, and they produced one - almost. They fell just short of perfection because, despite being more direct and aggressive in attack, and bettering their performance against South Africa, they just couldn’t convert their chances. That lack of accuracy cost them and is something they’ll need to address ahead of facing China PR.

France 2-1 Norway

Emmanuelle Hingant (FRA)
Les Bleues suffered on two different levels: physically, because the Norwegians were very strong athletically - much more so than opening-match opponents Korea Republic. But this was also a mental test, because they had to dig deep after conceding a horrible own goal by Wendie Renard. Fortunately, they reacted superbly and were rewarded for their attacking efforts with the penalty that allowed Le Sommer to emerge as the saviour once again.

Philip O’Connor (NOR)
Norway came into the lion's den tonight and gave France a serious fight. The happiest coaches watching this will be the ones that France might face over the remainder of of the tournament. The Norwegians, after all, offered a template for how to shackle the awesome attacking power of the host nation, and on another night, might have come away with a point.

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