Germany going through the gears

Coach claims best yet to come from two-time champ after last-16 cruise

GRENOBLE, France - Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg warned the best is yet to come from her team after it cruised into the quarterfinals of the World Cup with ominous ease on Saturday night.

Goals from Alexandra Popp, Sara Daebritz (penalty) and Lea Schueller saw the second-ranked Germans brush aside Nigeria 3-0 in Saturday's opening last-16 clash, setting up a last-eight meeting with either Sweden or Canada next Saturday.

"Coaches are never 100 percent happy," said Voss-Tecklenburg. "We are very happy to be in the quarterfinals. We have had great performances in very different matches under difficult weather conditions.

"We have one week to relax. We will probably take one day completely off without football.

"Next Monday we have to focus on our performance in the quarterfinals, and make sure at certain phases of the match we can gain more ground and become more confident without getting frustrated by details," she added.

"Some of our best players are not able to play at the moment, but we've still performed in an excellent way, leaving all on the pitch and pushing to our limits. It's valuable. There is no reason that we don't feel happy even though we are quite exhausted."

Two-time champion Germany expects to be able to call on star playmaker Dzsenifer Marozsan for the quarterfinal clash in Rennes. The Lyon ace sustained a foot injury in Germany's opening 1-0 victory over China but returned as an unused substitute against Nigeria.

"She's able to play the next match," Voss-Tecklenburg said of Marozsan.

Whether it's fifth-ranked Canada or ninth-ranked Sweden as Germany's opponent, Voss-Tecklenburg expects a tough battle in the quarters.

"It will be a game on a high level-50-50 no matter which opponent it will be. We have to get prepared, go to next step, and focus on this single game," she said.

"If we manage to get to the final, we will do our best. But we just try to be in a very serious way preparing for our tasks, trying to relax the side and staying realistic. Everyone wants to stay as long as possible. We are ready to take the next challenge and hope to finish in a positive way.

"It is a knockout game. For many players, they feel pressure and we don't know how they are going to handle such situations. That's why I'm especially happy about the outcome. That's why I hope Marozsan will be back, as she's responsible and able to give confidence to other players," noted Voss-Tecklenburg.

It was an extra special night for striker Popp, who broke the deadlock against Nigeria in her 100th international appearance and was voted player of the match.

"It's not that important if me or someone else scores. It's important to score early and get confidence throughout the game. We got more confidence, and it was an optimistic situation for us," she said.

"We are excited to see what will happen in Monday's match (between Canada and Sweden). Both teams are physically strong. Canada has plenty of pace and has very experienced players, so I'm excited to see how their opponent will cope. We already played against Sweden and performed quite well. But that was a friendly, and it's totally different situation in the quarterfinals.

Norway ousts Aussies

Later on Saturday evening, Norway joined Germany in the quarters by beating Australia in a penalty shootout.

With seven minutes of normal time left, Elise Kellond-Knights equalized direct from a corner to cancel out Isabell Herlovsen's firsthalf opener and take the game to extra time, during which the Aussies had Alanna Kennedy sent off for a trip on Lisa-Marie Utland.

The Matildas then withstood a late Norwegian siege but couldn't hold their nerve in the shootout as misses from Sam Kerr and Emily Gielnik sealed their fate.

The 1995 champion, which is missing Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg because of her dispute with Norway's soccer authorities, will next face either England or Cameroon in Le Havre on Thursday.

Xinhua