Ann-Katrin Berger does it again: The DFB heroine transforms into a beast during penalties

The German national team owes this success to the brilliant goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. She saved all the crucial moments in the match and became the hero in the penalty shootout against France. She saved two shots and converted one herself. This has happened before.

Ann-Katrin Berger fears trouble. Once again. And once again, the one scolding her will be national coach Christian Wück. "Because he said, 'You always jump into the same corner,'" says the heroine of the German national team with a wink. Minutes earlier, Berger had lifted her team to the semifinals of the European Football Championship and been named "Player of the Match."

In a match against France that was nothing short of tumultuous, Berger's "stubbornness" finally showed the way in the penalty shootout and saved Alice Sombath's attempt. Because the game needed maximum excitement after this run of play, the penalty shootout also went into extra time. Berger saved the 21-year-old Frenchwoman's shot – and that was it. 6-5 on penalties (1-1/1-1/1-1) for the German national team.

Again, it was on the left. This time, Berger was rewarded for her persistence. Because she had a "good feeling." She could have worked with statistics, though; goalkeeping coach Michael Fuchs had prepared a water bottle with a cheat sheet on the French women's shooters. But? "I didn't look at it once; I forgot. My goalkeeping coach put so much effort into it. But I'm just a guy who lives a little more in the moment."

Even transformed

She was also fully in the moment when she stepped up to take the German national team's fifth penalty herself. Although there was a negative example in the quarterfinals between Sweden and England, when goalkeeper Jennifer Falk saved several English attempts and could have sent her team to the semifinals, she missed miserably – and the English ultimately prevailed. Not so Berger. High to the right, placed, powerful – in, past Pauline Peyraud-Magnin.

When, after 120 minutes, Kathrin Hendrich's early red card, Grace Geyoro's subsequent penalty, two French goals being taken back, Sjoeke Nüsken's missed penalty, and extra time, the penalty save finally decides everything, emotions run high. Linda Dallmann jumps onto Berger's back, lets her carry her for a few meters, and screams in her ear: "I knew you'd do it!" Former national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg also commented as an expert on Swiss broadcaster SRF: "It was clear that Ann-Katrin Berger would save another one. It took a while."

Captain forces Berger to perform a giant feat

Berger was the big hero of the evening, but she would have preferred not to have experienced it at all: "I wasn't happy that we had to go to a penalty shootout because I would have liked to have settled it in 90 minutes." Berger has a reputation as a penalty killer. Ever since last year's Olympic Games, it's been known that the NJ/NY Gotham FC goalkeeper isn't easy to beat. Almost a year ago, in the quarterfinals against Canada—as she did again this time—she saved two penalties and scored one herself. In the third-place match against Spain, she also saved a penalty shortly before the final whistle, thus securing her team's 1-0 victory.

"Anne is outstanding. We can rely on her, even more so in the penalty shootout," says captain Janina Minge. In the 103rd minute, she almost ensured that there wouldn't be a penalty shootout. Or, alternatively, that Berger at least wouldn't have been able to play in goal. A ball she intended to clear with her head in the middle of her own penalty area almost became an own goal. Incredibly, Berger still got to the ball with her left hand and cleared it off the line. How did she experience this scene herself? "I have no idea. I have to be honest, you probably won't believe me, but it was a reaction and instinct. I don't know how I got there, honestly." A brilliant act in dire need, but one that left her with injuries to her shoulder and neck – "It was worth it" – and required treatment. Afterward, she was actually able to continue playing.

"The way she saved it gave the team another push to push themselves to the limit. It's incredibly valuable to have a goalkeeper like that on the team," said Wück. "Having a goalkeeper on the team who exudes calmness, where the team knows that if the opponent really gets through, there's someone there who can keep us in the game, and she's proven that on multiple occasions."

"Now every team has to be afraid of us"

His initial anger over Berger's risky play against Denmark, with her close dribbling, has long since subsided. And now he and the team are benefiting from the 34-year-old, who only last year, after many years of waiting, became the German national team's No. 1. In addition to her own performance, she also motivates her teammates before every penalty, talking to each of them before the shot. What does she say? "You can beat me in training, so you can beat the goalkeeper too."

And as they can, all the Germans scored, with the exception of Sara Däbritz, who was brought on specifically for the penalty shootout. The Spanish women must have seen that, too. They now face the world champions in the semifinals (Wednesday, 9 p.m./ARD and in the ntv.de live ticker) . Almost a year ago, Berger was the heroine there. Just like this time against France. Berger, in any case, is sending out a message: "Now every team has to be afraid of us."