Finland's striker Adelina Engman (L) vies with Germany's defender Sophia Kleinherne during the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Group B football match between Finland and Germany at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, north of London on July 16, 2022. (Photo by DAMIEN MEYER / AFP) / No use as moving pictures or quasi-video streaming. Photos must therefore be posted with an interval of at least 20 seconds.

We had to react to our failures, we did that. Still, we wanted to keep the balance.

It’s not difficult to play the last game because we want to finish the group with a clean sheet and go one better. We have the chance to round off the preliminary round again.

The French also won their second game at the European Football Championship in England. The potential German opponent in the semi-finals beat Belgium 2-1 (2-1) in Rotherham on Thursday evening and is already the group leader in the quarter-finals after two preliminary round games. Italy, on the other hand, has to tremble after a happy 1-1 (0-1) draw against Iceland.

On the second matchday of Group D, the French, led by captain Wendie Renard from Champions League winners Olympique Lyon, also impressed against Belgium. The goals were scored by Kadidiatou Diani (6th minute) and Griedge Mbock Bathy (41st). Janice Cayman (36th) marked the interim equaliser. Shortly before the end there was a hand penalty for France, but Renard (90th) failed because of Belgium’s goalkeeper Nicky Evrard. Belgium is third in the group with one point.

FC Bayern Munich’s Karolina Lea Vilhjalmsdottir scored after just three minutes for Iceland against Italy, who had lost 5-1 to France in the opening game. Valentina Bergamaschi equalized (62nd), while the dominant opponents mourned their missed chances. Italy are bottom of Group D by just one point going into the last group matchday and need a win in the last game against Belgium. The second-placed Icelanders, who have two points, will play against France in the end. (dpa)

Because of a migraine, national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg missed the training of the German soccer players on Thursday at the European Championships in England. The 54-year-old was missing from Grasshoppers Rugby Football Club grounds. The ailing Sydney Lohmann only trained individually because of a knee irritation. Her midfield colleague from FC Bayern, Lina Magull (thigh problems), worked in the weight room. The DFB women will meet Finland at the European Championships in England on Saturday (9 p.m.) in Milton Keynes, but are already top of the group after beating Denmark and Spain qualified for the quarterfinals. Voss-Tecklenburg briefly had physical problems after beating Spain 2-0, as she said afterwards. “In fact, I was a bit down after the game, so my circulation had to get up again.” The practice session on Thursday was led by their assistants Patrik Grolimund, Thomas Nörenberg, Britta Carlson and goalkeeping coach Michael Fuchs. (dpa)