On Monday, Germany got their pursuit for a third Women’s World Cup championship off to a strong start with a 6-0 thrashing of Morocco, who were playing in their first ever Women’s World Cup.
Talismanic captain Alexandra Popp scored a pair of goals in the victory.
The experienced Popp led from the front in the tournament’s most lopsided encounter to that point, heading in two first-half goals before Klara Buehl, Lea Schueller, and two own goals blew up the score after the break in front of 27,256 spectators at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
The Germans are now in first place in Group H with three points thanks to their easy victory, and their competitors, Colombia and South Korea, will begin their tournament in Sydney on Tuesday.
The Atlas Lionesses became the first Arab team to take the field at the women’s tournament seven months after the Moroccan men’s team made a miraculous run to the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar. They will play South Korea in their next encounter, and they will be hoping for a better result than they had in their last match.
They were demolished methodically by Germany, which operated like a well-oiled machine, need little time to get into their rhythm, and remained brutal until the very end.
Morocco quickly capitulated after being subjected to the first onslaught and maintenance of German pressure.
Due to a sloppy clearing, Kathrin Hendrich was able to get space on the right side of the field and send in a cross that goalie Khadija Er-Rmichi totally misunderstood. Popp was able to thump the ball in from right in front of the goal.
Morocco rebounded, but the Germans’ strong press prevented them from making a breakthrough. However, in the 24th minute, Morocco’s captain Ghizlane Chebbak attempted a shot from a great distance, which forced Germany’s goalkeeper Merle Frohms to make a diving save.
The first shot on goal by the Moroccans gave them a boost of confidence, but their defense on set pieces was a liability.
In the 39th minute, a spinning Popp scored again, this time with Buehl’s corner pinging off her head and shoulder before going in.
An agitated Chebbak delivered an impassioned talk to her squad before the halfway break, demanding more from them, but the Moroccans let up a third goal only 23 seconds after the restart.
Following a close-range shot by Lina Magull that was blocked by the goalpost, Buehl pounced on a clearing and buried a low, sizzling blast into the right corner of the net.
When Moroccan defender Hanane Ait El Haj pushed the ball into her own net less than ten minutes later, the evening took a turn for the worst for the Moroccan team.
The situation became much worse when the Moroccan goalkeeper punched a clearing right into the skull of a teammate, which set up a second own goal by Zineb Redouani, who was the first player at the competition to wear a headscarf.
After her teammate Lena Lattwein’s shot was saved by the goalkeeper, Lea Schueller finished off the thrashing in the 90th minute by hammering in the sixth goal with authority.