Five goals in the last 22 minutes saw Germany race away from England and put them on the cusp of the semi-finals. 

For long periods, it was extremely tight with nothing between the teams but a 38th minute penalty corner was delivered by Nike Lorenz to the right post where Lena Micheel touched in.

Sonja Zimmerman doubled up with a heavily deflected penalty corner drag, which looped cruelly off the first runner, down then up and over Sabbie Heesh – 2-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Zimmerman then created the next by racing down the left wing and flicking inside to Jetta Fleschutz who struck home powerfully.

Pauline Heinz got the next when she took control of a loose ball in the circle, bouncing it into space moving away from goal before hitting home.

Fleschutz then picked an English pocket in the closing two minutes and swept the ball into the top corner. 

Lorenz said they took their time but the goals soon became second nature for them: “We knew it would be hard to score and, at the start, I felt we didn’t have too much conviction but that corner kind set it all up. 

“Once it works out, it all looks easy but I think we did the same things from the beginning. When we believed in our actions and took our shots, we finished it.”

Speaking about the tournament experience to date, she added: “I have never played in front of such a big German crowd before. It is definitely a dream come true and a real privilege having friends and family on the side. We are just soaking it all in to be honest.”

Women’s Pool B: Germany 5 (J Fleschutz 2, L Micheel, S Zimmerman, P Heinz) England 0