Germany captain Alexandra Popp said the injury that ruled her out of the Euro 2022 final occurred during a penalty shootout.
Poppy became one of the players of the tournament after scoring six goals at Wembley and was named in the starting eleven for the final against England.
However, she left the field during warm-up and was announced as Leah Shuler minutes before kick-off, although the exact nature of the injury was unknown.
Germany were beaten 2-1 after extra time in the final, while England delighted the crowd with their first major trophy since 1966 by winning Euro 2022.
The visitors played very well but missed a clinical spike from Pope and after the match Pope revealed when and how the injury occurred.
“After I scored a penalty in the last practice yesterday and took the final penalty, the pain in my leg muscles came,” Pope told beIN SPORTS.
“We do everything with physical therapists and doctors, but it wasn’t enough. My muscles said, ‘No, today is not for you.'”
“I am very sorry about this. I am very proud of the team. We played very well and had a very good tournament, but now it is a bit difficult.”
Given England and Germany’s history and penalties, it’s a bit ironic that penalties helped decide major tournaments in favor of England.
The injury also meant that Popp was tied with England’s Bat Meade in the final and missed out on the chance to win the Golden Boot, with Meade not on the scoresheet on Sunday but claiming the prize out of courtesy. He had 5 assists to Pope’s 0.
87,192 fans watched the final at Wembley. This is a European Championship record for both men and women.
“Congratulations to England, they played a very good tournament too,” added Pope.
Having fans at Wembley and across the country is fantastic for women’s football here, in Europe and around the world, and I hope that feeling can be carried over to Germany. It was a great competition for everyone.
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Source: Metro
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