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Women's Euros: Group B team guide
The pre-tournament favourites Spain are in Group B along with Germany, Denmark and Finland. Sophie Lawson takes you through the four teams in the group, highlighting points of interest.
Denmark
- Coach: Lars Søndergaard
- Key player: Pernille Harder
- Best Euros result: runners-up (2017)
- FIFA ranking: 15
Drawn into 2017's Group of Death (dun dun dun), Denmark not only found a route to the knock-out rounds but built up the momentum to reach the final, where they lost 4-2 to the Netherlands, though that was only a portion of the Danes' story from five years ago.
Plenty has happened to the team since, notably when a row broke out between the players and their federation at the start of qualification for the 2019 World Cup.
Unable to recover from the walkover granted to Sweden after they refused to take to the pitch in their dangerous game of chicken with DBU, the team that had done so well in the Netherlands was a notable absentee from the World Cup in France.
As well as a change of manager after the Euros, the Scandinavians have seen plenty of player turnover with more and more young Danes swapping their diminutive home league for some of the stronger ones around Europe, adding to the strength of De rød-hvide.
Although their Achilles heel may be the backline, there is more than enough balance in the Danish midfield and attack, and they boast Pernille Harder.
Wearing #10 for her country, the Danish captain is one of the most inspiring players likely to take to the pitches across England this summer, her ability to play multiple roles, creating from midfield, tying the play together as well as finishing her chances, there are few in the world who can do what Harder does when she plays in red and white.
This year, Denmark and back in the Group of Death, but make no mistake, on their day, they have more than enough to beat Spain or Germany [as they did in 2017].
Finland
- Coach: Anna Signeul
- Key player: Emma Koivisto
- Best Euros result: semi-finals (2006)
- FIFA ranking: 29
There's no other way of phrasing this: one of the funniest goals from the qualification stage was scored by Finland's Amanda Rantanen.
The goal a freak one that left the attacker's boot and boomeranged from the goalkeepers knee back to the Finn, ricocheted off of her face and into the unguarded goal. The goal, scored by the debutante seconds after coming on was enough to end Scotland's qualification pursuit and seal Finland's.
Finland’s winning goal vs Scotland is a strong contender for ”Goal of the year 2020” - in so many ways. Amanda Rantanen scoring with her face, causing Scotland heartache💔 pic.twitter.com/OPvLVzgJs9
— Mia Eriksson (@mia_eriksson) January 3, 2021
Without getting too off track, it was the most Scotland way the British team could have been eliminated, not that it mattered for Finland.
Despite the number of girls who grow up playing football with any stigma, Finland is not a nation with abundant riches in women's football and as other European nations have invested and solidified talent pathways, the Nordic nation have found themselves unable to keep up with the curve.
The Finns had not been favourites to qualify from a group that pitted them against Portugal and Scotland, just as no one expected them to top the group and certainly no one could have foreseen Rantanen's goal.
Having to overcome more than a little to just the reach the Euros, Finland weren't given a respite when the draw was made and once again, people are not expecting much of the Pearl Owls.
If Finland are to have any joy this summer, hitting teams on the break will be crucial and this is where left-back Emma Koivisto is likely to play a key role in getting her team up the pitch, so too pacy midfielder Adelina Engman.
Fans may already be aware of Natalia Kuikka, the Portland Thorns' defender who is usually anchored at the back of the defence for her national team, but it may be a struggle for her and her team to fully show her talents this summer.
Germany
- Coach: Martina Voss-Tecklenburg
- Key player: Lea Schüller
- Best Euros result: winners (1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013)
- FIFA ranking: 5
To borrow an American phrase, Germany are the "winningest" nation of any to grace the women's Euros, their eight titles across ten appearances speaks not just to a world class team that carved out a space for themselves at the top table, but also of a team who know how to win.
Whether they are the best team at the tournament or not, Germany routinely find ways to win, this is possibly what made their quarter-final exit (to eventual runners-up, Denmark) in 2017 all the more jarring, the team unfathomable in the Netherlands.
The worry for the DFB and Germany fans is that despite a change of [permanent] coach, the nation still looked all over the place at the 2019 World Cup and come into this tournament with form that's patchy at best.
Being able to pick from one of the deepest talent pools in Europe, Voss-Tecklenburg has arguably chopped and changed too much, trying different players rather than letting the side settle, leading to their inconsistent performances.
Indeed, with too many top class players to choose from, the coach opts to play midfielder Guila Gwinn at full-back, a move that only works when she's not asked to defend but can get up and supplement the attack as she does for Bayern Munich.
It all very much feels like a gamble from the coach, calculated or otherwise, sometimes it's a recipe for disaster but other times there is just enough talent out there to work it out and find the goals to win games.
Even with all we know about Germany and their recent wobbles, they remain one of the few teams in the world with the ability to just find their way through. Favourites? No. But only a fool would completely write off any German team.
Spain
- Coach: Jorge Vilda
- Key player: Athenea del Castillo
- Best Euros result: semi-finals (1997)
- FIFA ranking: 7
Let me tell you something, reader, the biggest pause I had whilst writing this was picking out the key player for Spain and therein is why they're as likely to lift the trophy this summer as they are to fail to get out of the group.
At their best, Spain are relentless. They're a breath-taking mixture of attackers who claw and swipe at teams as if the defenders in front of them have personally offended their families.
This is a team that doesn't have one key player but a team in which every player can be key, in their pre-tournament 7-0 win over Australia - I urge you to dig out the highlights - they weren't just very, very, very good but the goals they scored…!
Defending against Spain isn't just trying to deal with a team that possesses the ball so beautifully and attack you from all angles but this is a team jam-packed with players who will take aim from ludicrous distance with devastating accuracy.
That's Spain at their best. That's the Spain we've so often seen in qualifiers, but then there is the Spain of major tournament, the Spain that has never won a knock-out game across three Euros and two World Cups.
This is a team that, in 12 Euro matches have won just three: La Roja are the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde of women's international football and it's the blind hope that, just once, Hyde won't show up over the summer that keeps you gripped.
Spain are a long way from being the only team at the Euros who are a coin flip between sensational and unwatchable, but they are the team with the most buzz around them for the sublime Champions League final performance from Barcelona last season.
Barcelona and Spain both able to call upon the services of Ballon d'Or winner, Alexia Putellas; a player who for so long was the difference when Spain were struggling during a match. Alexia the magic maker who herself went missing when Spain took to the pitches in France in 2019.
Alexia or Barca teammate, Aitana Bonmati could be the difference maker this summer but for nothing but fun, I opted for Real Madrid's young left winger, Athenea, who, for the sake of a comparison, would be the Spanish answer to Lauren Hemp.
