A German teenager scored an extraordinary long-range goal on her Women’s World Cup debut

REUTERS / Stephane Mahe

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.

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.

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