Giulia Gwinn is in the starting eleven of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. Bayern Munich’s full-back is getting stronger from game to game at the European Championship. With her performance against France she showed impressively that she is ready for the final against England.
Gwinn was no way too far against France. In the middle of the second half she shot right through her own penalty area. Frenchwoman Delphine Cascarino staged her teammate Selma Bacha with a steep pass into the sixteen. The joker would have broken through to the baseline and would have caused great danger in front of the German goal. If it hadn’t been for Gwinn showing off her defensive spirit once again. Bacha was skilfully pushed aside and the attack ended.
We all ran for each other. When one was played, the other was there.
The 23-year-old used to be more at home in the opposing penalty areas. It was only Jens Scheuer, her coach in Freiburg and then in Munich until the European Championships, that turned Gwinn into a modern full-back. She knows how to assert herself at the back, but she also always goes on the offensive. And so she had her right foot in the game both when it came to the 1-0 win and before the winning goal to make it 2-1 against France.
Big praise from the national coach
Gwinn’s star on the big stage rose three years ago at the World Cup in France, when she shot Germany to their opening win against China and, despite being eliminated in the quarter-finals, was voted the tournament’s best young player. Like the young woman from Lake Constance, it was Voss-Tecklenburg’s first major tournament as national coach, and she has known for a long time that she can rely on her full-back.
After the France game, the 54-year-old first emphasized that she didn’t want to praise a player, just the team. Shortly afterwards, however, she said: “Giulia has taken incredible steps in her development. She has grown as a personality, but also on the field.”
The corona pandemic helps during the injury break
Gwinn smiled upon hearing the words and recounted her cruciate ligament rupture in 2020 while playing for an international. She didn’t let this setback get her down: “I really wanted to go to this European Championship and I did everything to be there.”
Like Alexandra Popp with her EM curse, Gwinn also helped postpone the tournament due to the corona pandemic. She missed her club for almost a year after the injury. 397 days passed before she returned to the national team. The nimble winger made 20 appearances and scored five goals last season after her comeback for Bayern Munich – and thus drew the national coach’s attention again.
The three question marks repay MVT trust
It is noticeable that the players who have had a longer injury break know how to please so much at this European Championship. In addition to Popp and Gwinn, defense chief Marina Hegering repays MVT’s trust with performance right from the start. Gwinn, who has already taken several exams for her sports management studies during her time in England, convinces with great passing accuracy, high running effort and again and again with important ball conquests.
“I wanted to disrupt Cascarino from the start”
And Gwinn is now ready for the finale. “I give everything for the team and want to give them security,” emphasized the 23-year-old, who had taken superstar Cascarino out of the game in the semifinals. “I always look carefully at who I’m dealing with in the game. Cascarino stands for power and dynamism. I wanted to disrupt them from the start – and I managed that well.” First, the striker from Olympique Lyon was ordered to the other side, then replaced. “We defended that well as a team,” said Gwinn modestly.
Classy duels with Lauren Hemp await in the final
In the final she is again supported by her family. But this time not only from her parents, who have been out and about in their mobile home for the whole time at the EM. Other family members have announced themselves – including her sister and brothers, who also bring buddies from the football team who recently cheered on Mallorca.
So there’s plenty of support going into the final’s tackles when Gwinn is likely to face England left winger Lauren Hemp in particular. Much of the hosts’ focus is on Beth Mead, who is in contention with Popp for the goalscoring cannon, and center forward Ellen White. But Hemp is also a fire hazard and has been directly involved in three hits so far.
“Reaching the final is the dream of everyone on our team,” said Gwinn. The way was long. But now only one step is missing to the greatest success of her career so far.