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Germany’s Lea Schüller scores first World Cup goal with excellent finish (Video)

By Kevin Parvizi

27 May 2019, Bavaria, Grassau: Football, women: World Cup final training camp of the DFB team. Lea Schüller at the photo session. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images)
27 May 2019, Bavaria, Grassau: Football, women: World Cup final training camp of the DFB team. Lea Schüller at the photo session. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images) /
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Germany are one of the favorites to win the 2019 Women’s World Cup, and one of their rising stars, Lea Schüller, got on the scoresheet for the first time in a World Cup.

Striker Lea Schüller got the start alongside Alexandra Popp for Germany in their Round of 16 game against Nigeria, and after watching Popp draw first blood in the 20th minute with a header, Schüller grabbed a goal of her own in the 82nd minute. Schüller’s strike, which capitalized on a Nigeria error, effectively put the game to bed for Germany at 3-0. Germany’s last goal came in the 27th, courtesy of a VAR-assisted penalty from superstar midfielder Sara Däbritz (her third of the 2019 World Cup).

While Däbritz and Popp are established names who have now scored multiple goals in this year’s World Cup alone, Schüller’s goal was her first career goal in a World Cup. The 21-year-old is a top prospect in the German national team and has been a prolific forward at the club level for SGS Essen, scoring 46 goals in 101 games in the Bundesliga.

Her World Cup goal against Nigeria was excellent. Schüller pounced on a dreadful back-pass from Nigeria’s defense, and she needed only one touch to find the back of the net. With deadly accuracy and perfect technique, the rising star dispatched the ball into the far bottom corner, punishing Nigeria with a high-quality finish.

Schüller is a classy, ruthlessly efficient striker who surely has more World Cup goals in her, even in this tournament. She’ll continue to play a key role for Germany up top with Popp. This goal now gives her 9 in 16 appearances at the international level for Germany, which is quite a remarkable goal-scoring record for a 21-year-old.

Next. Watch Alexandra Popp's first goal against Nigeria. dark

Germany had no issues taking care of business against Nigeria in their first knockout stage game, looking solid in attack without superstar Dzsenifer Marozsan and even better in defense. They will face a more difficult challenge in the quarterfinals, however, as they will take on the winner of the Sweden vs. Canada game in the Round of 16 matchup that takes place on Monday.