Euro 2025: Schüller strikes again as Germany beat Denmark

Lea Schüller scored the winner as Germany beat Denmark 2-1 to all but qualify for the knockouts. The Bayern Munich striker hasn't always had it easy for Germany but may be peaking at the right time.

For the second game in a row, Lea Schüller was substituted with 20 minutes remaining. This was not a reflection of poor performance but Germany coach Christian Wück's way of protecting his striker, who had done her job once again.

Schüller scored the second, just as she had against Poland in Germany's opener, to complete a 2-1 comeback against Denmark. Until fairly recently, it has been the Bayern Munich star who was the one coming on. But the retirement of Alexandra Popp last year has made Schüller Germany's undisputed starting striker.

Sjoeke Nüsken scored Germany's equalizer after a shaky start Image: Frank Hoermann/Sven Simon/picture alliance

"To be honest, it's more of a media thing," Schüller told web.de, a German news website, before the tournament. "I didn't feel that way before, when Poppi was still there, that she was the focus of attention, and I had to take a back seat. Our team always knew that Poppi was one of our most important players. I still felt like I was important, too; that hasn't changed. I'm one of the older players now. In addition, I'm now expected and want to be a leader. That's the difference."

Schüller a different type of leader

Though the 27-year-old is now one of her country's most experienced players, Schüller isn't the most obvious leadership figure on the pitch, even with captain Giulia Gwinn ruled out for the tournament.

On Tuesday, she was close to anonymous until she suddenly found space to the left of the penalty spot in the 66th minute after some dreadful Danish defending to sidefoot home her goal and send Denmark to the brink of elimination. Sjoeke Nüsken had scored a penalty 10 minutes earlier to equalize after Denmark led at halftime.

Schüller found the same sort of space to score with her head against Poland on Friday. Though she is quick, good in the air and a natural finisher, it's that movement in the box that perhaps contributes most to a record of 53 goals in 75 German games, a ratio comparable to the very best.

Euros key in Schüller's career

It was this tournament that turned Schüller's attentions to football as a child, as she told DW ahead of the 2019 World Cup.

"I took a holiday in France in 2004 and watched the European Championship. After that, I desperately wanted to play football so I joined a club," she said. From that local club, she joined SGS Essen before moving to Bayern in 2020, making her Germany debut in 2017 along the way.

She has won four Bundesliga titles with Bayern, but international success has proved elusive so far. Schüller caught COVID midway through the 2022 Euros, a tournament where Germany lost to hosts England in the final. She was a surprise starter in that match after Popp picked up a last-minute injury and struggled to make an impact.

"I’d avoided it [COVID] for two and a half years, and then at the Euros of all times. That was really galling," she told Bayern’s website later that year. Schüller also suffers from endometriosis, a long-term, painful condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places.

Lea Schüller struggled at the start of this season but has come in to form at a good time Image: ActionPictures/IMAGO

“It is an illness that sucks," she told Vogue in 2023, when she became the first German footballer to feature on the cover. "You don’t think about training and especially not playing games," she added about when the illness strikes.

Life after football

Despite that and a hectic schedule with Bayern and Germany, Schüller is considering her post-football career. Though she will be relatively well paid as one of the world’s top female footballers, both in terms of wages and sponsorship deals, women’s salaries in football lag way behind their male counterparts.

"Of course I can put some money aside, but it won't be enough for a whole life after football," she told Sky in 2022. As a backup plan, Schüller is studying industrial engineering on a distance learning course but added she is "afraid of not starting until I'm 35. That will be more difficult than at 24."

If she can carry on her goalscoring form against Sweden, in Germany’s final group game on Saturday, and beyond, those endorsement contracts may just get a little bump.

Edited by: Richard Connor

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