Germany Secures 2-1 Comeback Win vs. England in SheBelieves Cup

NASHVILLE (March 6, 2016) – The Germany Women’s National Team came back from a goal down to defeat the England Women’s National Team 2-1, scoring twice in a seven-minute span near the end of the match to pull out the victory.

Forward Toni Duggan staked England to an early 1-0 lead when she tallied in the 9th minute. The goal came off a free kick from Alex Greenwood that was cleared back out to her. Her re-service found the head of Duggan, who was able to re-direct the ball into the lower left corner for her 15th international goal.

Germany tied the game on an own goal through the effort of substitute Sarah Dabritz in the 76^th minute. The scoring play started off a throw-in from the right sideline and the ball bounced off Anja Mittag to Dabritz, who crossed from almost flush on the end line. The ball took a nasty deflection off the toe of England defender Gilly Flaherty, who was trying to block the cross, and snuck past England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley just inside the right post.

Germany kept pressing and earned a penalty after a ball bounced to Alexandra Popp inside the penalty area. As she wound up to shoot, Fara Williams bundled into her and referee Ekaterina Korloeva did not hesitate to point to the spot.

Defender Babett Peter, who came into the match in the 53^rd minute, drilled her shot low into the left corner to give Germany the lead and the eventual winning goal. It was the sixth score of her international career.

The game was a rematch of the 2015 Women’s World Cup Third-Place match which was won by England on an overtime penalty kick from Williams.

The USA and Germany currently sit atop the tournament standings with six points each, and while both teams have a +2 goal difference, Germany is ahead on the next tie-breaker having scored one more goal than the Americans. England is in third place with zero points, but has one goal scored and France is in fourth with zero points and no goals scored.

The final match day of the SheBelieves Cup commences on Wednesday, March 9 as the USA faces Germany (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN3) and England takes on France (5 p.m. ET) at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Florida. Click here for the full tournament schedule.

Germany needs just a tie to win the tournament while the USA will need a victory.

- Germany WNT vs. France WNT Match Report -

Match: England Women’s National Team vs. Germany Women’s National Team
Date: March 6, 2016
Competition: SheBelieves Cup
Venue: Nissan Stadium; Nashville, Tenn.
Kickoff: 4:30 p.m. CT
Attendance: 25,363
Weather: 61 Degrees; Partly Cloudy

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F
ENG                            1          0          1
GER                            0          2          2

ENG -- Toni Duggan (Alex Greenwood)                    9th minute
GER -- Own Goal (Gilly Flaherty)                             76
GER -- Babett Peter (Penalty Kick)                            82 

Lineups:
ENG: 1-Karen Bardsley, 3-Alex Greenwood (10-Karen Carney, 69), 4-Fara Williams, 5-Steph Houghton (capt.), 6-Gilly Flaherty (15-Casey Stoney, 79), 7-Jordan Nobbs (23-Gemma Davison, 83), 8-Jill Scott, 11-Demi Stokes, 12-Alex Scott, 17-Katie Chapman, 19-Toni Duggan (22-Fran Kirby, 82)
Subs not used: 21-Carly Telford, 13-Siobhan Chamberlain, 2-Lucy Bronze, 9-Jodie Taylor, 14-Claire Rafferty, 16-Laura Bassett, 18-Izzy Christiansen, 20-Eniola Aluko
Head Coach: Mark Sampson

GER: 12-Laura Benkarth, 2-Josephine Henning (14-Babett Peter, 53), 3-Saskia Bartusiak (capt.), 7-Melanie Behringer (20-Lena Goeßling, 46), 8-Katherin Hendrich, 9-Mandy Islacker (6-Lina Magull, 78), 10-Dzsenifer Marozsan (23-Sara Däbritz, 46), 15-Anna Blässe, 17-Isabel Kerschowski (11-Anja Mittag, 78), 18-Alexandra Popp, 22-Tabea Kemme (4-Leonie Maier, 64)
Subs not used: 1-Almuth Schult, 21- Lisa Weiß,  5-Annike Krahn, 16-Svenja Huth, 19-Lena Petermann, 24-Sara Doorsoun
Head Coach: Silvia Neid 

Stats Summary: ENG / GER
Shots: 6 / 14
Shots on Goal: 2 / 6
Saves: 5 / 1
Corner Kicks: 1 / 4
Fouls: 13 / 11
Offside: 0 / 4

Misconduct Summary:
ENG – Gilly Flaherty (caution)        21st minute
GER – Sara Däbritz (caution)           67
GER – Leonie Maier (caution)         72

Officials:
Referee: Ekaterina Koroleva (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Katherine Nesbit (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Amanda Ross (USA)
4th Official: Carline Reid (JAM)

2016 SheBelieves Cup Standings