- 19-year-old Giulia Gwinn scored the winning goal for Germany in her Women’s World Cup debut on Saturday.
- Gwinn fired her team to victory over China from outside the box in the 66th minute.
- It was the only goal in the group stage match.
- Watch the stunning strike below.
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Germany has a bright future in the 2019 Women’s World Cup and beyond.
Giulia Gwinn, the soccer side’s mercurial midfielder scored the winning goal against China on Saturday — and she’s only 19 years old.
Read more: Women’s World Cup Power Ranking: Where all 24 teams stand at the start of the tournament
Germany was deadlocked with China until the 66th minute of the group stage match. After a corner cross was headered away by China, Gwinn set herself for a long-range effort, and arrowed the ball through the legs of Yang Li and past the keeper.
Watch the stunning strike below:
Or here if you’re outside the US:
“It’s obviously special to start the World Cup by scoring a goal like that. It will give me a lot of confidence,” Gwinn told reporters after the match.
It doesn’t seem like confidence is something the Freiburg player should be lacking.
In her debut at the Under-16s Women’s World Cup, Gwinn received the player of the match award. She received the same award in her debut match at the Under-20s Women’s World Cup two years later.
The Germany manager, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, said that Gwinn “just [got] better and better as the game went on.”
She added: “The goal gave her a lot of confidence, and she showed what she’s capable of doing. It’s definitely very important that all the young players played in what was a very difficult match.
“They fought through it, and now they have the benefit of that experience and know what it’s like to play a World Cup match, with all the difficulties that brings.
“This game taught us that a World Cup match is very different to the training sessions. Some things happened that were not great – but we are here and we want to go as far as we can.”
Germany plays Spain — who are also one win to the good — in Valenciennes on Wednesday, while China faces South Africa on Thursday in Paris.
