laudehr leads germany through to last eight published: thursday 30 june 2011, 23.08cet
simone laudehr's second-half strike was enough to earn germany a hard-fought victory against nigeria and a place in the quarter-finals alongside group a rivals france.
germany are through to the quarter-finals of the fifa women's world cup after securing a narrow victory against nigeria in frankfurt.
simone laudehr's strike nine minutes into the second half proved the difference between the two sides even if the hosts, cheered on by a full house, dominated possession throughout this hard-fought group a encounter.
nigeria defended in numbers and silvia neid's side struggled to unlock a resilient, sometimes overly physical rearguard. indeed it was not until the introduction of inka grings, for birgit prinz, that the hosts broke the deadlock, after the substitute, a minute after coming on, flicked on celia okoyino da mbabi's free-kick at the near post. in the melee that ensued, alexandra popp's shot was blocked, but laudehr was on hand to lash home her tenth international goal.
grings might have scored herself after turning well on the edge of the area on 64 minutes before shooting narrowly over, while precious dede did well to hold the no8's shot at the second attempt on 75 minutes. dede played well throughout but it was at the other end where nigeria disappointed and they will consequently leave the tournament alongside their next opponents canada, while germany join france – who beat canada 4-0 – in the last eight.
