The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Popp stars as Germany set up England showdown – Women’s Football Weekly

Episode Date: July 28, 2022

Faye Carruthers, Suzanne Wrack, Alex Ibaceta and Marva Kreel give their verdict as Germany edge France 2-1 to reach Wembley

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And then there were two. Our final is set. Germany will take on England at Wembley on Sunday after a 2-1 win over France. So, will it be a ninth title for the Germans or a first for the Lionesses? Beth Mead and Alexandra Popp will fight it out for the Golden Boot after Poppy popped up with yet another goal to make history, scoring in every game of the tournament and taking her tally to six. We'll dissect last night's match, look ahead to Sunday's final, and that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is supported by Visa,

a proud sponsor of UEFA Women's Euro 2022. In 2020, Visa announced the launch of The Second Half, a career development programme to support female footballers as they consider their careers beyond the football pitch. showing how they will be able to apply these skills outside of sport through training in areas such as financial literacy, personal branding and leadership. By investing in the women's game and programmes like the second half, Visa hopes to encourage more young girls to believe that a career in football is possible. And it's in this world of doors opening for more people, or we might see a new player of the match, or a totally unexpected entrepreneur among us. Visa recognises that we'll only see the best of all of us when everyone participates. Find out more at theguardian.com slash all hyphen win.

Susie Rack, how are you feeling? Broken. Very, very broken, but alive. Well, I mean, the second part is vital. As you can see, I'm pretty broken myself. And here, end of the tournament always makes you feel rough. Alex Ibaseta, you're the one usually without the voice. You've passed it on to me. It's you and Salon Hickman. But you must be delighted that Poppy is bringing a good name to Alexandras everywhere.

You know what? I was telling this story to Jesse yesterday. Alexandra Pop was like the first, like the big Alexandra that was like really successful and I was like, oh, we have the same name. But yeah, Poppy Poppin at the Euro. Oh, she is popping out everywhere. Marva Creel, you've popped up to say hello. We've not seen you for a while.

What have you been up to? I think still recovering from Tuesday. It's been a pretty intense week. It was also my birthday last week, so doubly intense. But yeah, excited to be back. Well, happy birthday to you. Thank you. Right. What a game. Germany beating France 2-1 in Milton Keynes. Two goals from Alexandra Popp. She scored in the first half before Diani hit back almost immediately. But it Poppe who was there again in the second half to head in the winner of course she was going to head in the winner

Susie a tweet from our friend Johnny Lou this may be the most exciting thing that's ever happened in Milton Keynes was this the game of the tournament for you? It's hard to say that a game of the tournament isn't one of the England games purely because of the atmosphere and stuff obviously England's Spain game was incredible from so many different perspectives but in terms of two footballing giants going against each other in a real sort of frenetic energy-fuelled battle of skill and power and everything, then potentially.

Potentially. You're still sitting on the fence, Susie. Alex, loads of people thought that this year might be a transitional one for Germany, but they appear to have proved everybody wrong. Yeah, I think that's really well put. I think the thing with Germany is that you know that they're capable of it. You just don't really know

if they're ever going to show up for the tournament. You look at their pre-Euro campaign and they didn't really have many friendlies as other teams did. So you kind of, you had no idea what to expect from the German side.

But look, they've been really, really good. And I think Martina has kind of instilled a really good game plan in the Germans. Each game, I think every player knows what they need to do and they do it well. Obviously, Germany have amazing players all over the pitch. So it is really satisfying

to see how well they're playing. It is annoying that they already have eight Euro titles and they're in the final again. But I think this group that there is right now is just really, really deserving of that. Yeah, I would agree with you. They deserve to be where they are.

What is there to say about Alexandra Pop that we haven't said already, Marva, because you described her as inevitable on Twitter. And it feels like every time Germany play, we just need to heap more and more praise onto her. It was a lovely moment when all of her teammates heaped onto her after she received her Player of the Match award, wasn't it? Yeah, amazing. Her performance was just absolutely incredible.

I think her and Oberdorf just completely stood out. But what is incredible about Pop is just the way she continues to press from the front, from the first minute to the last. Her finishes for both goals, I know they're one-touch finishes, but a ridiculous sort of side-footed volley and then a ridiculous header as well. Just an incredible performance for her.

I was just in awe, to be honest. Yeah, absolutely. That header was incredible. Germany definitely not able to get as much joy against France, Susieie as they have done against other teams when it came to that high press that Marva was just talking about how were France able to hold so tight when other teams had perhaps come unstuck a bit earlier France have been such a surprise package for me in this tournament because I just did not expect

them to like you know I know they're a good side you know on paper they've got a great team obviously they've had all the off-field chaos that we've discussed previously prior to the tournament that you know everyone sort of expected to infiltrate the team but they sort of very much reached the semi-final almost against the odds obviously they've missed you know a whole bunch of players including katoto injury, the massive blow. And it's been a real journey for them. You know, obviously they had that slight kind of quite thrilling, exciting picking apart of Italy, you know, showed some real swagger, really kind of sent a statement across the group stage.

But since then, I feel like they've slowly petered off. You know, they haven't scored a second half goal um across the tournament obviously they scored the goal in the first half of extra time to get through to the semi-final but other than that they've not scored in the second half and it very much feels like they haven't quite got the squad there to last a full 90 minutes um against you know a really good team but so many chances at the end and so wasteful that you just you you started to really feel the loss of the toto and then obviously some of the players that didn't make the squad you know real sort of game-changing players because you know that they could have won that game with the number of chances they had at the end, over the bar, wide, etc. And they showed that Germany aren't completely infallible. Scoring the first goal against them of the tournament, getting quite a lot of success down the left.

You sort of thought, well, actually, there's space here. They're not quite as all-conquering as they might look. That's going to be interesting to see what Lauren Hemp can exploit. But we'll get on to what England can do in part two. But it did seem, Alex, from quite early on, that Corrine Diacra wasn't happy with the way France's attack was clicking. And she kind of moved quite a few pieces around, including bringing Salma Basher on at

halftime what did you make of some of her in-game decisions? I'm not a fan of the subs that she made obviously she took off Neldrin Malara at halftime and put up Salma Basher but that meant that you put Deani as your central striker and we talk about Deani so much and the reason why we talk about her is because her ability to take on 1v1 and her speed to drive into space on the wing. And when you put her as a central striker, you know, that kind of goes to waste, essentially. She did score, you know, she did score the goal, but I still think putting her as a central striker is a bit of a waste. But then when you look at what she did when Samir Bacha came on, obviously she put Samir Bacha on the left to Karchawi and then you moved Cascadino on the other side and then eventually she took off Cascadino put on Clara Mateo who's a central midfielder and you put on the wing when

you have a perfectly amazing Sandy Baltimore on bench you know Karchawi wasn't having the best of matches you could have easily taken off Karchawi put Sernobacha there put Baltimore in front of her and that could have been a whole different ballgame. You know, Sar is a central striker, so you could have ended up with a Baltimore, Sar, and Deani forward three. And yeah, I think putting the AAC subs took off a bit of the momentum, and I think they could have been a lot better, considering what Germany were showing and what the French were exploiting.

You know, one of the things that the act pointed to at the end of the game was the fact that they had had 48 hours less time to prepare for this game than Germany, plus they played extra time in the quarterfinal. So, you know, she basically said maybe if we had 48 hours more, things would have been different. I don't think we should take anything away from the german team we came up against a beautiful athletic and very efficient team and the disappointment was very heavy but yeah i think that there is a point there england have benefited from it as well in the you know the the way the the draw has fallen means that you know a team in the semi-finals um has had a

massive like extra rest ahead of uh ahead of the games i can't remember which germany player we spoke to at the end that said it but um one of them um you know she kind of said you know we were able to have a complete day off entirely from all training and recovery before this game and you can't underestimate that and you know that does point to that sort of wearing in the second half that that maybe wouldn't have been there otherwise or you know would have been a little maybe perhaps a little bit more resilient in the second half um if they had had that sort of extra time you know if they're going to use that i'm not going to take excuse because it is fair, but if they're going to say that,

you know, if Colleen Dierck is going to say that, like she played players that have been playing this entire tournament. And when you have a Sandy Baltimore, even a Kenda Dali who comes to the midfield, she's deliberately not playing players that have fresh legs over the players that are tired. Not putting on Sandy Baltimore last night

just blew my mind, basically. I completely agree with the Baltimore substitution point, but I think also Basha, not putting on Sandy Baltimore last night just blew my mind basically. I completely agree with the Baltimore substitution point but I think also Basha I was a little bit disappointed in some of her decision making I think she brought the kind of fresh legs but I think maybe her sort of I won't say inexperience given how many Champions League she has but her sort of slight youth was showing there she just got into some great positions and then either chose to shoot. I think there was like a free kick right at the end, which it was quite central.

So I get you might, you might want to have a go, but just with the clock ticking to sort of take a wild shot from that far out, rather than put into the mixer where Renard is, which is such an asset for them. There were just a few decisions like that, that wherever that comes down to management instructions or players on the pitch. But yeah, I think they just kind of lapped when it came to

that final decision really as well. Yeah, it was very difficult because they'd done the hard work, hadn't they, getting back into the game in the first place. In fact, becoming the only team to score against Germany in this tournament so far. The goal from Diani, unfortunately, rebounded back in off of Merle Froome's head. But even then, you did feel as if Germany just had a little bit more, despite France picking up a little bit of that luck, Marva. Yeah, they just, I mean, throughout the tournament, they've just seemed so assured. I think both England and Germany have been the two teams who throughout just look like they have a very clear game plan that's ticking the whole time. So even when they're not on top, they know what they're doing.

And I think that really came across in this game because there were points where France were getting in behind, were getting in those chances. But Oberdorf was just everywhere for one who could just recover any ball that was anywhere on the pitch, seemingly. And they just, yeah, they just looked so assured throughout the game. Yeah, Alex, Lina Oberdorf is just very good at football, isn't she? Yeah, I'm mesmerised every time I see Lina Oberdorf play.

She does everything and she does everything so well. And you kind of remember how young she is and it doesn't make any sense I believe she's 22 and you know she's already been around in the Champions League at Wolfsburg for quite a long time and you know we're already talking about her quite a lot and you have to remember that we're going to see her play for at least you know potentially another 10 years you know this is just the start of where she is and i think she's an amazing player she's a crucial play you can notice when she's not on the pitch obviously we saw uh when wilson

played barcelona and then all the doubles was there alex pop was actually the one to replace her another player who's just overall just ridiculous but you saw the difference when lena alberta's there and when she's. She's just a key component and kind of, she'll put in the tackles, she'll make the run, she'll catch up to you somehow. And she'll, you know, kill those really dangerous attacks from the opposition. So Lena Albers, she's had an amazing tournament, I think.

And she deserves a lot of praise after this weekend. Susie, Clara Ball obviously missed out on this game because of COVID. 19-year-old Julie Brand filling in in her place. She made the most of her opportunity to start here, didn't she? And perhaps gave the Germans a few things to think about. Oh, 100%.

She had a great game. I still think that Clara Ball would come back in as long as she's fit. I mean, like having her rested for a final as long as you know she's sort of fully recovered from Covid it's a bit of a no-brainer given the tournament she's had so far I mean she's been phenomenal to watch and yeah I like can cause some real real problems I've just really I've really really enjoyed watching Germany frustratingly throughout this tournament they've been great and it's more

for the journey that they've been on in the build-up to this tournament I think than than anything else because they're you know so disjointed it's lots of rotation nothing quite clicking until they played that Switzerland game just before the tournament and then they real find their rhythm in the tournament and sydney loman said afterwards that you know the reason is that they are a tournament team it's what they're sort of built for and that sort of sums up germany pretty well and then the rise of the likes of clara ball uh lena oberd Oberdorf, some of these younger players coming into this team and really, really stepping up on the biggest of stages

is really satisfying in the same way that seeing Georgia Stanway do it and Lauren Hemp's show, maybe not quite as much as we wanted to see from her, but glimpses of the absolute genius that is there and things like that. It's really great to see some of these young players to play with so much tenacity and like so utterly fearless on a really really big stage yeah it's a really good point Susie makes actually and perhaps France will will look at that and think that they came up short a little bit Marva because they ended their run of being unable to reach the semi-final to make it to this point. But will they be disappointed perhaps with how it ended?

Completely. And I think given as well what sort of pundits, including us, thought they might do this tournament, I think we kind of underestimated them a lot. We thought that they might sort of collapse and combust. But they, as much as I was saying Germany were assured, France were weirdly assured in ways that I didn't think I think they particularly in this game I expected it to be a

lot more kind of chaotic from them as we sort of seen with them against Italy in that first half with just how open they are but people could kind of forget that in that first game they were so open in the first minute themselves that they could have conceded. But with this game, it was a professional performance. It was just sort of almost unlucky in the way that they didn't take their chances in the end. But they dealt with the press well. They held on to the ball well. They used the whips well when they could. And then it was just not having that final gear to go into right at the end.

But I think they can be proud of the tournament that they had. Like I said, I think a lot of us underestimated them. So what they did actually pull out was pretty impressive in the end. Yeah, I wonder whether the French fans will feel the same. Maybe not. So France are out, Susie, but the atmosphere at Stadium NK, despite obviously not having the Lionesses on show, seemed pretty impressive.

Lots of Alilé Blur picked up loudly on television, a sea of German flags as well. I was quite surprised actually, and with the numbers, which is perhaps me underestimating the pull of these two teams. I think especially with the train strike as well, I was quite surprised to see the numbers hold out because they had sold I think like 29,000 or something prior to kickoff. And that's not too far off the number that ended up there.

So, like, yeah, quite impressive, really. And it was a real vocal crowd as well. And I would say majority backing Germany. But what was utterly surreal was when France scored such a significant proportion of the crowd celebrated and I was really confused because you saw fans in Germany shirts with German flags like celebrating the France goal and I was really like I wasn't sure if I was like completely hallucinating in the like sleepless husk of a like person I was slumped in the press box but like it was just a very very weird thing

to see but also kind of nice like everyone was just enjoying the football and then you know there was a very very hardcore contingent of German fans on the opposite side but it had seemed to be a majority Germany crowd and then all of a sudden when France scored like the majority of the stadium erupted as well and it was just very very strange and yeah kind of kind of nice just to see people appreciating a contest I think as well yeah do you know what it might be a little bit like I don't know whether you saw the the video on twitter of the sky reporter interviewing a Sweden fan who had a very Scottish accent when he started talking absolutely brilliant loved it uh that's it for part one in part two we might just mention that England will who had a very Scottish accent when he started talking. It was absolutely brilliant.

Loved it. That's it for part one. In part two, we might just mention that England will face Germany on Sunday in the final of Euro 2022. So as you know, this podcast is supported by Visa. And over the next few minutes, we're going to talk about one of their initiatives that's helping ensure the future of women's football. Along with being a proud sponsor of UEFA Women's Euro 2022, they're committed to supporting female footballers on and off the pitch, which is where their career development programme, the second half, comes in. Someone currently on that programme is Manchester United's

Lucy Staniforth. Lucy, so lovely to see you. You've had an incredible senior career that began at the age of 16, still at the pinnacle, but you've also been thinking about life after your playing career for quite some time now, haven't you? Yeah Yeah I think education's always been something that has played a big role in my life I think it was something that I found to be really invigorating off the pitch meeting new people you know opening my sort of horizons beyond the playing bubble of football and understanding what goes on in the background almost for everyone to perform functionally on the pitch. So your Master's in Sport and Directorship, what exactly do you want to take from that?

I think the sort of name is in the title. That's sort of what I would love to see myself in, you know, in a few years' time. I think I look at the growth of the women's game and how you know a head of women's football and a sporting directorship role is becoming more prevalent I think there's definitely room for it to grow and for clubs to take that on board and for the future of women's football it's probably really important to make those decisions for the good of the women's game.

Yeah, it really is. And I suppose the people at Visa's second half programme are helping you and supporting you in this dream. How much has their support helped you? Without Visa, I wouldn't have been put in contact with my new mentor, Jackie, who is a woman in a really prominent position. And I think, you know, for women to be able to aspire to have those high roles within football clubs and other businesses, you have to be able to see it and to sort of lean on their guidance and expertise. And obviously, I would really recommend it to anyone out there who's playing at the moment. Brilliant. Lucy Staniforth, soon to be Director of Football. I look forward to what's next. Thank you

so much for your time and best of luck with everything going forward. Now back to the show. Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. So, England will meet Germany in the final at Wembley on Sunday. This is a fantastic tweet from BBC journalist Chris Slegg. Can you imagine if 56 years of hurt finally ends at Wembley against Germany

and it's the women who weren't even allowed to play when England last won anything who finally bring football home what a story and it is a story isn't it Susie? I mean yes unavoidable isn't it like you know we hate comparisons to the men's team and like you know I get very frustrated when the rivalries in men's football are transferred very very easily over to the women's as if that's a normal thing and they they exist in the same way but there is something very very different about england v germany in any sporting event any arena any like any ground like it just captures the the country like in a you know quite a playful way i think and it is gonna

attract a far far bigger audience to this game than i think that you know it was don't get me wrong it was going to be huge anyway regardless england in a final was going to be massive but the fact that it's the i mean the two informed teams of the tournament in this final with such, such history behind the German team in this tournament. And then also the legacy of this very, very long rivalry between the two sides in every single stage, pretty much. Yeah, it's just really exciting. And it almost felt written from the moment they were both topping their groups, really, I think. Yeah, it really did, Alex. And to have the best two teams of the tournament in the final is what everybody wants.

But where is this match going to be won or lost? Because it's so intriguing on so many levels, having seen the standards that these players have brought leading up to this point. That's a heavy question to kind of answer one off. The German defence, I mean, myself included, I said that it was kind of the weak link of the entire Germany squad. But I think they've actually showed up quite well to this tournament. And it's one of those things that we said at the beginning of the tournament that they've just come back to bite you. I think Hengering and Henrich and even Julia Gwynn and, you know,

Feli Rauch, even that we've seen her being kind of the weak side of that squad. I think the German defense has actually done really well. You saw them against Spain when they were up. They just kind of, they were able to hold on for it and again yesterday you know there was a there was a few close chances from France uh playing to their strengths on the wings as we know but you know Julie Gwynn is a really good defender and she is young so she will you know happily make those really long sprints to keep you out of the box and stuff and I I think, yeah, Hegering and Heinrich have used their experience really well. I think they both did really well yesterday.

You know what you get from England. You know, Beth Mead, Lauren Hemp are going to be the big players to hit. I don't think that England are going to be able to play through the middle, as we've seen them do, you know, against Norway. Norway gave Kiriwos a lot of time and England were able to play through Kiriwosz out from there.

But when you have Elena Oberdorf, I mean, you saw the press that they did. You know, Germany are big on the high turnovers and trying to get a goal from that. And you see Sarah Dabritsky and Lina Magu dropping back and having Elena Oberdorf press in that number 10 position because she's so good at turnovers. We saw England kind of not struggle a bit against Spain but Spain were really good at ball recoveries as well high up the pitch and they were able to keep you know Lauren Hemp and Beth Mead quiet for for a lot of the match and that's all down to you know the

defensive structure and defensive stability of that and I think Germany are going to learn a lot from that, from the England-Spain game. And I wouldn't be surprised if they're able to replicate it. But at the same time, it is a final. So all of our predictions are probably going to go out the window and they're going to play a different game than we expect. But the match throw with the pitch, I think it's going to be won and lost in the midfield,

on the wings potentially, and kind of how, you know, a Jule Brands or a Svenja Huth is going to exploit the England defence as we saw, you know, Rachel Daly has had not the greatest moments in this tournament. And I think Germany can kind of exploit the spaces that we've seen a team like Spain exploit before. All of our predictions have gone out the window already

since we started this podcast, Alex. So no more danger of that. Marva as Alex kind of said there there's so many similarities about these two teams a kind of blend of older and younger players a settled lineup consistent throughout the tournament it feels like a really difficult one to call which is why I'm going to make you see if you can call it oh no I think my heart would try and say that that England could come up strong and maybe maybe like a one nil or a two one but I think it's likely to go the other way and I think Germany might get the better of us and I think it could be I think I could imagine it being a close

game until England have to really push at the end for an equalizer and then it ends up being sort of like 3-1 to Germany or something but hopefully I'm wrong yeah I really hope you're wrong um Susie if you were Serena Wiegmann I mean just channel that first and foremost how much would you love to be Serena Wiegmann um how would you look at how France matched up to Germany what would what would you take away from that game oh they just have so much success down the left you've got to target that you've got to target them on the wings um as Alex said you're like getting through the middle is going to be really really difficult so it's really important that they're showing some strength out wide as like they have repeated moments in this tournament

defensively i'm very worried about pop as as i as probably everyone is like how you stop pop is the the big question um she's just like utterly in beast mode in this tournament like obviously her first euro she's got like close to 120 caps or over 120 caps or something like that and like real taking advantage and making up for lost time and effortlessly cool as well i mean when she came through the mix zone just literally the coolest human being in like a hundred mile radius uh like like marched through cat backwards really cool glasses on and just music blaring and she just yeah oozes cool and calm and um yeah like germany have some absolutely fantastic players across the pitch but she's the difference maker um and stopping her is key and

if england you know if millie bright and leah williamson can do a good job job against her then you know England have got a chance in this game I think it's gonna be really really tight and really difficult yeah but you know equally we have suggested that other games in this tournament were going to be tight and then that they've not ended up being so I feel as if we're almost giving England a bit of a disservice but what I'm really fascinated about Alex is your namesake Poppy and Beth Mead both tied on six goals now for the Golden Boot it seems as if it's between those two but I just want to throw Alessia Russo's name in the mix because she's on five and I think she might have something to say about it you know it's it's amazing I think the way that Beth Mead and Alex have gone through this tournament competing,

you know, they're not directly competing against each other. They're just scoring goals. And it's just outstanding that we're able to see two players such in form. And, you know, we're lucky to see them in the final. And it's coming down to the last day. You know, Beth Mead has been in form. She's been in form all season. We've seen her for Arsenal play really well.

But then Alex Popp has just come in this tournament, the tournament scored every single game yesterday she scored two outstanding goals and that just kind of sums her up as a player you know she she can come in in the midfield she can come as a striker you know the first opening match she did start in the midfield and they actually there was one that started as a striker and then as soon as you know Poppy made the switch to some striker and she started scoring you know she stayed there for there for the rest of the tournament. Obviously, that's paid dues. But yeah, I think if you're neutral and you're just watching this game,

just that golden boot race, it's going to be so entertaining to see how they go at it at the final. Yeah, absolutely. I can't wait for that personally. And I love the fact that Alexandra Popp, more history made in this tournament, becoming the first player to score in every single game so far.

Imagine if she could score in the final. I don't want to imagine that. I don't want to see that. I don't want to visualize that at all. But Marva, I hate bringing it down to gender, but actually two women managing in the final of Euro 2022 and three of the four semifinalists were managed by women as well. It's been a great tournament, not just for the players, but also to show off the amazing, talented managers that we have across Europe. Yeah, completely. I don't know how much of that is maybe a case of obviously sort of the top jobs in international football

when women go to kind of these top managers who probably wouldn't get a look in in men's football so they're sort of not poached in the same way as some of the the men's coaches who have done the same but i think this is a great advertisement for it and just how incredible they've they've all been and someone like serena who's obviously done it for the netherlands are now coming and doing hopefully the same but even if even if she doesn't take it all the way to still get England to a final um as England fans we know how painstakingly long we've waited for that for England women so it's such such a huge moment and um yeah it's incredible to see them doing so well yeah I mean I presume Susie we are and I've seen

it happen already with Serena Wiegman have have that awful, could they manage a men's team conversation? Believe me,'s like treated and always discussed as some kind of huge step up for them to shift into the men's game but also that they should do it at a significantly lower level than than they're then they're doing in the women's game as if that you know this is ultimately where women's football six women the men's football world is, you know, a few rungs below, if not significantly more rungs below. And that's what annoys me is this like idea that it's some great test and great step up. Why the hell should they manage in the men's game? They're all like former international women's footballers with hundreds of caps for their countries like deeply invested in the women's

game with an insane knowledge of the player pools at their disposal of the developments of the of the game in you know pretty much every country in the world let alone across europe like just have some respect for what they're doing in the arena that they have, you know, carved out a space in, yes, they would all do a brilliant job. You know, yes, Serena Vigman could manage the England men's team and probably be brilliant. I could definitely see her doing a fantastic job. Would she ever be given that job? I seriously doubt it because there's always the caveat to the conversation that, oh, well, you know, I'm not going to name a team because I don't want to be disparaging. But perhaps you should go and coach this little League One or League Two men's team, you know, after this.

That's the big step up she wants from, you know, managing England at home Euros. You know, it's just that's the part of that conversation that just is laced with misogyny for me suzy rack for prime minister um yeah i mean i don't even know what i can add to that that will make it better because it was absolutely spot on it is the most infuriating conversation anybody working within women's football has on a daily basis. And it's so bloody patronising. So the next few days, focusing back on the football, just to let you know, I've been given a random day off. And that is because the England players have been given a random, it's been described as a day off their feet.

So I usually do rights holder interviews on match day minus three. And then me and Susie will go down to the Lensbury for match day minus two for a press conference and various one-on-one interviews. And then it's match day minus one, which is usually at Wembley, apart from training has been held at the Lensbury. So they've got this day off. And I think it was you that mentioned it, Alex, in part one, that the Germans got that day off over France

when Karim Diakra mentioned it afterwards. And England might be able to take advantage of the fact that they've played a day before the Germans. It's a hard one. I think, yeah, now they you know Thursday, Friday, Saturday to kind of chill out and recover which I think should be enough but having that extra day just makes you a bit more fresh and when you look at the the kind of the styles of play you know this is going to be a high intensity match Germany for one just don't really stop you know England are more capable of

kind of calming down the ball and trying to play out the back and everything and keeping possession but Germany you know I think England are going to have to move the ball a lot faster than what they've been because Germany are going to want that high turnover and have that high press you do need those legs you need those fresh legs but at the same time Germany have a bench that haven't played that much and they do have those fresh legs that are able to kind of keep up with the sub for example you know julebrand has hasn't played as many minutes as as say you know a spania hooth for example so i think germany still has a lot of good players that are going to be relatively fresh so i don't see it being like you know one of the biggest factors that's going

to come down to the football. Absolutely can't wait. Coming down to the football, we have a pod tomorrow, which is Friday. Looking ahead to it as well, but let's get ready for it. Marva, you were doom and gloom earlier on. Have you changed your mind in the last few minutes? I want your proper prediction. Who's walking away as champions of Europe? All right, England, go on.

Wow. I mean, that didn't take much convincing, did it? All right. England, go on. Wow. I mean, that didn't take much convincing, did it? I just have to believe. Alex? I have to sit with Germany. I've supported Germany every German game that I've gone to, so I kind of have to do it now. There you go.

There's those fans, Susie, you were talking about that aren't actually German. It's Alex Ibaseta. It's me. Susie Rack, who are you going for? Oh, you know I'm a fence-sitter, but I'll go England, just because that's what I want

for the impact it will have. No! I thought, I thought. Wasn't that on the bingo card? Yeah, so listen, listen. Susie. We've reached a point here where we're in uncharted territory like the first major tournament victory for an England senior side since 66 like it's going to be game

changing not just for women's football just for football in England and I think that we've reached a point where we can have that sort of discussion as long as we don't go too big on the the seminal moments for the women's game I think it's a seminal moment for football in England my point however Susie Rack was we can all go big on England potentially winning but bearing in mind your predictions for the entire tournament, I'm banning you from saying England are going to win. Oh my goodness. Okay, Germany. It's Germany all the way.

It's going to be 2-1 Germany, really tight. And Alex Popp is scoring twice and will be on the cusp of a hat-trick and will take the golden boot. Brilliant. Okay. So England are winning the Euros. Love it. We will be back tomorrow on Friday with a special bonus.

Thank you, Alex. Thank you. Thank you, Marva. Thank you. See you later, Susie. See you Friday. See you Friday. So we have a special bonus episode of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly.

Looking ahead to that tantalising final. And of course, we'll also have a podcast for you on Sunday, which we'll be recording at Wembley in the meantime let us know where you're going to watch the final at guardian underscore sports and that's where you can also get your questions in for tomorrow's panel as well we're all off to watch Russo's back heel on repeat the Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Lucy Oliver and Jessie Parker Humphries with additional help from Silas Gray and George Cooper. Music composition was by Laura Iredale

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