1st Defeat for Germany Casts Huge Doubts over Their Medal Prospects

Going into the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Canada had never beaten the German women's football team in 12 separate attempts. For John Herdman and his squad, the 13th attempt proved to be lucky on Tuesday night.

Inspired by two goals from captain Melissa Tancredi, Canada came back from 1-0 down to stun the European side, confirm their place as group winners and cast a huge shadow over Germany's chances of medalling this summer.

“It’s a great day. We have had a couple of great days here," beamed Herdman to Canada Soccer after the final whistle. He continued: 

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The first game against Australia was one of my proudest moments as a coach to see the resilience. Today just topped it, to see the inspirational performance from our captain [Tancredi] here.

As a coach, it was just proud to watch the team leading the team. Yes, great moments in football and memories that I will cherish, but we have another game coming, so we can’t talk like we have won this thing because we have another game coming.

"

Silvia Neid's team took the lead in the 13th minute, when Melanie Behringer converted from the penalty spot after Mandy Islacker was brought down in the box by Allysha Chapman. Stephanie Labbe was beaten, and the North Americans must have thought they would have to settle for second place.

However, despite falling behind in terms of possession and creating fewer chances than their opponents, Canada was able to even the score when Tancredi superbly equalised in the 26th minute.

Midfielder Desiree Scott worked hard to win the ball back from Lena Gossling deep in the Germany half, Tancredi picked up possession, feinted past Josephine Henning and drilled a low shot past the defender and beyond Almuth Schult.

Celso Junior/Getty Images

Tabea Kemme, Isabel Kerschowski and Behringer all had chances to score as Germany upped the pressure, but Labbe wasn't troubled in the Canada net.

After the break, Anja Mittag had a great chance to fire the Germans in front, but she couldn't convert Islacker's cross. They would be made to rue that chance.

Tancredi picked up her second at the hour mark, wrestling free of the German defenders to powerfully head in Rebecca Quinn's free-kick.

"I am just proud of this team," goalscorer Tancredi told Canada Soccer after the game. "To be able to put two goals past a tier-one opponent and really state our spot in this tournament is really huge for us."

Alexandra Popp had a chance late on, heading towards goal in injury time, but Josee Belanger was there to clear the ball off the line.

Canada held on, making it three wins from three in the group stage. Germany, on the other hand, have only managed to beat group minnows Zimbabwe. That may have been a 6-1 win, but when they have faced off against better teams, they have been found wanting defensively and in attack.

There were doubts before the tournament with regards to just how good this Germany squad could be, but it's hard to argue that they are lacking in talent.

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 Silvia Neid benched her best player this tournament. #Däbritz pic.twitter.com/egDRhpn4Us

— WoSo Comps (@WoSoComps) August 9, 2016"

When you look at the XI that lost in the semi-finals of the World Cup against the USA last summer, there have been changes, but there is still a huge amount of quality amongst the team.

Legendary goalkeeper Nadine Angerer has retired, as has superbly talented centre-forward Celia Sasic. Players of that calibre are hard to replace no matter who comes in.

Yet players like Behringer, Sara Dabritz and the extremely gifted Dzsenifer Marozsan have all come into the XI. Their talent is far greater than their performances have indicated so far.

One issue could be Neid. Respected as one of the best in the women's game, there is no doubting her legacy. But with this being her last tournament before she steps down, there is a slight sense of malaise seeping out from the Germans.

They don't have that same intensity, drive, belief and clinical edge typically associated with most German sides.

Beating Zimbabwe by five goals told us very little about Neid’s team. They lost Simone Laudehr early due to a bad tackle, and her absence has been felt. But it doesn’t mask their other performances.

Too many of Germany’s goals were avoidable from a defensive standpoint, and it wouldn’t be cruel against the Mighty Warriors to suggest that a team higher up the world rankings would have dealt with them much better.

It wasn’t until they went 2-0 down to Australia that they picked up and took the game to the Matildas. In the past, Germany would have played that way from the start. Almost as if they needed the wake-up call.

Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images

Former international Steffi Jones will take over in September, the German FA announced in March, via ESPN FC. But Neid won't completely disappear. She will stay on as part of the DFB and join their scouting department.

"Neid has achieved a lot in the industry, and her experience will be crucial in her new role," DFB President Wolfgang Niersbach told press at the announcement. "Jones has been involved in the setup for a number of years and knows the game well. We're certain that she is the correct successor to Neid."

It could be that Germany will have to wait for Jones to come in and put her stamp on the team before they taste success again.

But for all the problems and upheaval, Germany are still in this Olympic tournament, and despite only winning once and conceding five goals in three games, they have a fantastic chance of reaching the semi-finals.

Due to the nature of the tournament's draw, the winners of Group F were always set to play the runners-up in Group G—that was always going to be the USA or France. Then the runners-up from Germany's group would meet the runners-up in Group E.

China and Sweden failed to capture the imagination in their opening two games, both winning once. They met in Brasilia on Tuesday and played out a goalless draw. Following their 2-0 win over South Africa and Sweden's 5-1 loss to Brazil, China qualified in second on goal difference.

Despite Canada winning all three games and beating Germany for the first time in their history, they will feel they have been handed the much tougher task on Friday, as they'll take on France in Sao Paulo.

If both Group F sides can emerge victorious, they will meet again in Belo Horizonte, this time battling for a place in the gold-medal match. Then, with a much greater prize up for grabs, we will definitely see what the Germans are made of.

A loss to China would definitely usher in a much-needed change in the post-Neid era for the former World Cup winners.