CNN
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Saving Germany’s Euro 2025 quarterfinal victory over France on Saturday night is relatively low on the list in terms of the challenges that two-time cancer survivor Anne Catlin Berger has overcome.
That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a big night for the goalkeeper and her country. She won one of the tournament’s greatest goalkeeping performances of all time as Germany defeated France 6-5 in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw.
BERGER has made nine saves in open play since 2013, according to the BBC.
Her 102-minute save to prevent her unique goal from teammate Janina Minge was a bunch pick.
However, the 34-year-old did not stop there. In a penalty shootout, she locked out the first spot kick from France’s Amer Mazilli, earning the team’s fourth penalty, shut out France’s seventh penalty attempt, an effort by Alice Sambas, and jumped to the left to win the German match.
With obvious disbelief, Berger simply sank into his knees, his arms stretched out, and a huge smile on his face, watching her jubilant teammate sprint towards her to celebrate.
The progress towards the Euro 2025 semi-finals makes particular sense for Berger as he discovered three years ago at the tournament that he discovered in 2017 that thyroid cancer had returned after being diagnosed previously.
In both cases, the Germans returned to football within months of starting treatment, citing the need to seize their hearts from the situation.
“You have to focus on something else. You have to hold on something. It was the euro for me,” she told Sky Sports in 2022.
Once again he recovered fully, the only visible sign of what Berger had experienced is on her neck. There, a tattoo read “We have now” covers the wounds of her treatment.
On Saturday’s pitch, hopes for Berger and Germany to pass the quarterfinals were taken in a large dent when Katrin Hendrich was sent in the 13th minute as he pulled Gridge Mbok with his hair in the penalty area.
Grace Geyoro transformed the resulting spot kick, and suddenly Germany defeated the target and player.
but National Team We responded immediately when Sjoeke Nüsken led the corner of Klara Bühl at a nearby post in 25 minutes.
France’s Delphine Cascarino and Geyoro each had offside targets on both sides of halftime, but Nusken receives the perfect opportunity to give Germany an unlikely lead in the 69th minute when Pauline Peiraud Magnin is saved by Pauline Peiraud Magnin after Selma Bacha has huwed Julesbrand.
But the Burger hero is enough to take Germany to the semi-finals, where he will face world champion Spain on Wednesday.
