Women's World cup 2015: Germany march into Quaterfinals, suffocate Sweden

Sasic scored twice and set up Anja Mittag for another as the highly-rated germans won their first Women's World Cup knockout hurdle easily, eliminating Sweden 4-1 Saturday afternoon at Ottawa's Lansdowne Stadium.The win booked Germany a quarterfinal Friday in Montreal against the winner of Sunday's France-Korea Republic clash.

"I think we were clearly the better team," Germany manager Silvia Neid said after the match. "We played well, but we are not yet world champions, and we now have to focus on likely France."
Sasic set up Mittag to put the Germans ahead in the 24th minute, then scored from a 36th minute penalty and a 78th minute header as Silvia Neid's team controlled much of the match on a warm afternoon in the Canadian capital. Linda Sembrant got the lone Swedish goal with eight minutes left before Dzsenifer Marozsan scored an outstanding, individualist's goal, stretching out remarkably to beat Hedvig Lindhal with two minutes remaining in normal time.
That Marozsan goal made the final score reflect the nature of a match which showcased Germany's credentials and again exposed Sweden's lack of attacking balance and overall speed.
Germany, in fact, could have been two goals ahead in the first three minutes, but neither Alexandra Popp nor Simone Laudehr could convert golden opportunities. Popp shot over the open near top corner inside the first minute when she was left alone eight yards away, then Laudehr was put in one-on-one against Lindahl but saw the Swedish keeper prevail in the challenge.
The gilt-edged chances didn't continue to flow but the Germans were very much on top when Mittag and Sasic combined to punish Swedish loss of possession in midfield in the 24th minute. The two exchanged passes before Mittag come down the inside left channel, stepped inside 22 meters out and smacked her shot past the diving Lindahl. It hit the inside of the far right post before settling into the net for her fifth strike of the tournament.