Hrubesch makes a spade out of a German football heroine
Two penalty saves, scored the decisive one herself. Ann-Katrin Berger is the match winner of the German team at the Olympic Games. She takes the penalty shootout in the quarter-final against Canada by storm. And promptly receives a telling off from coach Horst Hrubesch.
"She really gave me a dressing down," said Horst Hrubesch, who was already in a joking mood after the thriller in the quarter-final of the Olympic football tournament. While goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger was being celebrated as the match winner by her teammates and fans for her decisive penalty save against Canada, the coach was complaining. "She gave me a dressing down for not saving the third penalty," said Berger: "He always likes to tease me. 'Come on, save the balls,' he told me."
Berger had almost decided the penalty shootout. The German goalkeeper, who was chosen by Hrubesch over the regular starter Merle Frohms before the Olympics, saved penalties from Ashley Lawrence and Adriana Leon. For the German team, Giulia Gwinn and Janina Minge scored confidently. On the Canadian side, Quinn scored first. It was 2:1 when Berger began to make her mark.
Germany's third shooter, Sydney Lohmann, initially faltered, her shot going well over the goal. So it continued, on and on. And Berger kept going, with her save against Leon. Felicitas Rauch then scored confidently for the German team, and then Berger made her little mistake. She had anticipated the shot from Janine Beckie, had saved it - but then the ball slipped out of her hands and rolled into the goal under her body.
"If I've got it, I should be able to hold it," Hrubesch joked with a smile. So the nerve-wracking game continued, after no goals had been scored in regular time or extra time. And then Berger stepped up as the fifth German shooter, placed the ball on the spot, and scored.
'Manuel Neuer has had to shoot before too'
Hrubesch had no doubts about his new number one's skills, even as a shooter. "Otherwise, we wouldn't have let her shoot," he said. "Anyone who knows Anne knows she can shoot, that she can take penalties too. She was one of the first on our list," said the 73-year-old. "Even Manuel Neuer has had to shoot before, no problem." However, the goalkeeper, who plays for NJ/NY Gotham FC in the USA, said that it was her first penalty she had ever taken in a game. "It was a cool feeling, it was fun."
Emotionally, Berger seemed completely unfazed. With her hands clasped behind her back, she stood stoically on the line. It was only during the shooter's run-up that the 33-year-old moved. A smile, a fist pump when she saved a penalty. And for her own shot? "As a goalkeeper, you know what to look out for. The only thing that can sometimes bite you in the ass is emotion."
Hey, it was just a penalty shootout in a knockout game at the Olympics. Just before the medals. No reason to be nervous, right? Berger has already experienced much worse. Life-threatening situations where she had to wait, be patient. Completely alone in a hospital room. In 2017, she received the shock diagnosis of thyroid cancer at just 26 years old. She had swallowed tablets with low-dose radioactive iodine, which causes diseased thyroid cells to die. But because she was radioactive herself due to the tablets, she was isolated. The hardest part of the therapy, despite a six-and-a-half-hour operation: "The radioiodine therapy was the worst because you just sit in a room for four days and can't do anything."
In 2022, it happened again, the cancer had returned. She knew about the diagnosis during the EM in England, where the German team became vice-European champions. She kept the devastating truth from her teammates, not wanting to distract anyone from the sport. As number two behind Merle Frohms, she didn't play. But she didn't want to leave either, "because I would have gone crazy at home," said the Swabian.
"I was so angry. I had done everything right: little sugar, no alcohol, enough sleep, lots of exercise. I was super disciplined - and then I get cancer again. It felt deeply unfair and mean and unfair," she told "Stern". After the successful EM, there was again the therapy in solitude, again the anxious waiting to see if it works.
What should make her nervous about a penalty shootout? And in the semi-final, Berger has nothing to lose. Again, the German team has to face the USA, in the group phase the Americans had inflicted a clear 4-1 defeat on the Germans. Also because Berger had made a mistake and caused the second goal. Also against Zambia, she had not been error-free - but Hrubesch did not allow any discussion about his choice of number one.
Is there now revenge against the USA (Tuesday, 6 pm, ARD, Eurosport and in the ntv.de live ticker)? For Hrubesch, they are, alongside the world champions from Spain, the top favorites for gold. But is there really the class difference that the result suggests? Not for Gwinn: "It wasn't necessarily the much better team that won, but the more effective one." That's what needs to be changed in the semi-final. Even though the German team again had promising chances to lead against Canada. Even in the 113th minute, Lohmann could have made it clear, but her header only hit the crossbar.
With the entry into the semi-finals, the German women's team has once again postponed the retirement of their coach. The interim national coach can now fully enjoy the duration of the Olympic Games. Because the situation is promising for the German team. A win out of two games must be achieved, then there is the long-awaited medal.
"Despite the criticism from her coach, Ann-Katrin Berger, the DFB women's team's goalkeeper, remained focused and secured the win in the penalty shootout against Canada."
"Following their semifinal victory, the DFB women's team's standout performer, Ann-Katrin Berger, shared her emotion-filled journey battling thyroid cancer and how it hasn't deterred her from performing at the highest level."
