Germany begin title defence in style

Reigning champions Germany have commenced their title defence with a powerhouse 4-0 victory China PR in Hiroshima. Two goals in each half saw the strong German side cruise past an outclassed China and match the scoreline achieved by Group D rivals USA earlier in the afternoon. The evening kick-off made for cooler conditions than those experienced by USA and Ghana earlier at the Hiroshima Big Arch. Germany made the perfect start as Lena Lotzen prodded a loose ball home from close range on three minutes, after a ponderous China defence made a hash of clearing the danger, With their goal rarely threatened, Germany created a host of chances with Lotzen hitting the crossbar, before ending the half in the same way they started as Anja Hegenauer scored after Dzsenifer Marozsan’s free-kick was blocked. The second period mirrored the first with Germany dominating, however it took until 16 minutes before time until the two-time champions extended the margin. Yupong Lin turned a Leonie Maier cross into her own net, while Luisa Wensing iced the cake with an injury-time strike. "It is important to start with a win without conceding a goal," said Germany coach Maren Meinert. "But this means nothing for the tournament. We need three good games to go through. Now we have three points in a very difficult group - thats all." From fifa