Germany's Goddard guns for glory

Germany striker Stephanie Goddard is confident that her team can successfully defend their Women's Under-19 title after taking maximum points from their opening two games in Iceland.

Semi-finalists
The FCR 2001 Duisburg player, who scored in Friday's 2-0 win against Norway which booked Germany's semi-final ticket from Group A, believes Maren Meinert's side are the form team at this UEFA European Championship.

'Great to score'
The 19-year-old, who also started her country's 1-0 opening-day victory over Denmark, told uefa.com: "We have put in good team performances in both games. Our target was to book our place in the semi-final after two matches and we have done exactly that so we are very happy. From a personal point of view, it was also great to score a goal but I didn't connect with the ball as well as I could have done. However, it ended up in the back of the net and helped us on our way to victory."

Forward planning
Goddard, who has a German mother and English father, has been a key player in attack alongside the Kerschowski twins – Isabel and Monique – and attributes Germany's impressive results to their meticulous pre-match preparations. "We knew the Norway game was going to be particularly difficult," she said. "We did a lot of research before our game with them as we always do and they played as we expected. They have a strong defence who are particularly good in the air – so we tried to beat them on the floor and our defence nullified their quick attacks in the second half. We are quick and strong and it helped us get behind their defence. They are a good team but I think we are the strongest in the competition and this victory goes some way to proving that."

'Keep sharp'
Germany are expected to rest players when they meet Iceland in their final group game on Monday yet Goddard says they will give everything to maintain their 100 per cent record despite having qualified for the last four. "We must focus on getting to the final and we will be disappointed if we don't make it," she said. "But we want to beat Iceland to keep ourselves sharp. We won the trophy last year and want to win it again. Anything less will be disappointing."