Germany vs. Norway: Score and Analysis for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 Final

Germany has been absolutely dominant in international competition, and it punctuated that dominance with a huge 1-0 victory over Norway in the UEFA Women’s Euro Final on Sunday, via FIFA.com:

The German national team has now won six consecutive titles and eight in total. As noted by Paul Carr of ESPN and Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated, Germany and Norway had combined for nine of the last 10 Women’s Euro titles entering this year’s contest:

While Norway has certainly been one of the most impressive teams in the Women’s Euro tournament, Germany was simply outstanding in the final. If not for the impressive play of Norway keeper Ingrid Hjelmseth, her team may have suffered far worse fate.   

Germany only managed one goal in the contest, but it wasn’t without scoring chances. The German side attempted 21 shots to Norway’s seven, and put 13 of those shots on target.

Hjelmseth came up with several huge saves to keep her team in contention, as detailed by Philip O’Connor, The Women’s Game and UEFA Women’s Euro on Twitter:

For as well as Germany played, Norway simply wouldn’t back down. The runners-up continued to stave off attack after attack from the German side, with Anja Mittag’s 48th-minute goal being the only blemish on an otherwise gritty performance on the part of Norway’s defense.

As J.J. Duke noted, it was a relatively easy finish from Mittag as Norway’s defense experienced its only major lapse of the contest:

Norway had some chances to equalize later in the match, however. As detailed by Sky Bet and Grant Wahl, German keeper Nadine Angerer made a couple tremendous saves midway through the second half.

Those saves set the tone for a German defense intent on not making any major mistakes. It almost made one in the 72nd minute, though, when Elise Thorsnes broke free and sent a strike past Angerer just wide of the right post, per UEFA Women’s Euro:

That was the best look Norway would get at an equalizer, however. Germany, despite showing little aggression on the attack, managed to maintain possession and keep the ball away from its counterpart for the majority of the last 25 minutes.

The two late-match penalties Angerer saved made the difference in the contest. For Norway, the Women’s Euro Final loss boils down to two missed opportunities in an otherwise terrific football game, via Kick TV:

With the win, Germany adds to its impressive championship resume and dominance in international competition. In the last 17 years, Norway is the only team to beat Germany in the UEFA Women’s Euro tournament, but it was unable to repeat that feat on Sunday.