The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic’s daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox. Hello! Come meet the player who’s been defying gravity. I can’t stop watching her save.

In last summer’s Olympic Games, Berger saved two shots from Ashley Lawrence and Adriana Leon in the quarter-final penalty shootout against Canada, before scoring the decisive penalty. She later deflected Alexia Putellas’ ninth-minute penalty in Germany’s bronze medal match against Spain, defeating the world champions 1-0.

In terms of challenges that two-time cancer survivor Ann-Katrin Berger has overcome, making a string of saves in Germany’s Euro 2025 quarterfinal victory over France on Saturday night is relatively low down on the list.