A typical Germany

Austria's Christoph Baumgartner scored one of the fastest ever international goals inside seven seconds on Saturday and was then quickly followed by a similarly lightning strike by Germany's Florian Wirtz.

Baumgartner, 24, went into the record books during a friendly match in Bratislava.

The Leipzig attacker drove through the home defence from kick-off before unleashing a 25-metre shot past Martin Dubravka in goal.

"We've done this variation before, sprinting from kick-off at full risk. The sequence of steps somehow worked out so that I made the run," Baumgartner told Austrian public broadcaster ORF after the game which his team won 2-0.

"Of course it's really cool, I'm very happy. The fact that I hit it like that... it's of course sensational."

Baumgartner's strike matched the seven seconds it took Lukas Podolski to score for Germany against Ecuador in May, 2013.

The Austrian FA described Baumgartner's effort as the fastest goal in the history of international football.

"Of course we got off to a really good start, that goal by itself was probably worth the price of admission," said Austria coach Ralf Rangnick.

Meanwhile, later Saturday, Wirtz was just as fast against France in a friendly in Lyon.

The Leverkusen player beat 'keeper Brice Samba with a superb shot under the crossbar.

The fastest goal scored in a World Cup was by Turkey's Hakan Sukur against South Korea in 2002 after 11 seconds.

Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg warned Sunday that women's football has never been more competitive as her side chase a third World Cup title.

The Germans are one of the favourites in Australia and New Zealand, and have a serious pedigree, having won the tournament in 2003 and 2007.

But they went out in the quarter-finals four years ago, and with women's football at an all-time high, especially in Europe, Voss-Tecklenburg is wary.

"All the games are tight, women's football teams have come ever closer," the coach said on the eve of Germany's World Cup opener on Monday against debutants Morocco in Melbourne.

"All the countries coming here are not only proud to be at the World Cup, but they absolutely have the quality to play here and to pose problems.

"We will have the same scenario tomorrow against Morocco."

But Voss-Tecklenburg, a decorated former international player who has been in charge since 2019, welcomed the challenge and said it was good for women's football.

"We see this around the world, everybody keeps developing," she added.

"Women's football is getting ever tighter in an athletic sense, but itself as a sport it is also growing, and we are proud that is happening.

"We live that and we love that, and are up for the challenge.

"It is much more competitive than 20 years ago when I was playing."

The United States are chasing an unprecedented third World Cup crown in a row but face a stern challenge from several European teams, Germany among them.

Aside from Morocco -- the first Arab nation to play at a Women's World Cup -- Germany face South Korea and Colombia in Group H.

Germany have several injury concerns ahead of the Morocco clash, with key players Marina Hegering and Lena Oberdorf both in doubt.

Julian Nagelsmann got off to a winning start as Germany's coach on Saturday with his team securing a comfortable 3-1 win over the United States in a friendly.

Germany looked much improved from the team that had suffered a 4-1 home defeat to Japan last month, a result which saw Hansi Flick fired as coach after a run of five matches without a win.

The Euro 2024 hosts could ill-afford another surprise loss but they delivered a solid, well-rounded performance after recovering from a Christian Pulisic opener for the USA in the match at East Hartford, Connecticut.

Although Pascal Gross struck the post early on for Germany, who were missing midfielder Joshua Kimmich due to illness, the home side looked threatening with Pulisic and Tim Weah lively on the flanks.

Gio Reyna, who had gone through a bitter public row with coach Gregg Berhalter after the World Cup last year, returned to the starting lineup and provided some creative touches as the Americans started well.

Pulisic put the USA ahead in the 27th minute with a superb solo goal, cutting in from the left flank and then unleashing a fine drive into the far corner.

But that appeared to serve merely as a wake-up call for Germany with Ilkay Gundogan levelling in the 39th minute after good work from Leroy Sane.

Sane dribbled across the American defense, played a one-two with Gundogan and tried to go round American goalkeeper Matt Turner, who could only push the ball into the path of Gundogan, who had a simple conversion.

Germany went ahead in the 58th with center forward Niclas Fuellkrug slotting home after a perfectly weighted one-touch pass from Robin Gosens.

With the USA defense at disarray, Fuellkrug then set up the lively Jamal Musiala for a simple tap-in to make it 3-1 for the Euro 2024 hosts.

Sane should have made it four when he was set up nicely by Musiala, but the Bayern Munich winger fired his shot wide from a promising position.

Musiala's speed and skill were major highlights of the performance from Germany with Gundogan, as always, calm and intelligent in the center of midfield.

"Against a good team with a lot of speed, we took a very good step in terms of football," said 36-year-old Nagelsmann, who felt his team had been too rushed in the opening 45 minutes.

"In the second half, we also had a fast pace of play, but more patience and control. That was the difference,"

Berhalter's Americans missed the impact of injured central midfielder Tyler Adams and Pulisic noted their weakness at tha back.

"It hurts. We had a good start to the game. I felt like we hurt them in a lot of moments. But yeah, little mistakes here and there. Defensively, we can be a bit better," the AC Milan winger said.

"Obviously, we have to give them credit. They have some unbelievable players. They played a strong game."

Germany will face Mexico in Philadelphia on Tuesday, when the USA will take on Ghana in Nashville.

Colombia scored a 97th-minute winner through a Manuela Vanegas header to snatch a dramatic 2-1 victory over Germany and stand on the cusp of the Women's World Cup last 16 on Sunday.

Skipper Alexandra Popp thought she had rescued a point for Germany as she held her nerve to score from the spot on 89 minutes.

But in an incredible finish to a pulsating clash, Vanegas popped up deep into stoppage time for all three points with a close-range header.

It came after Linda Caicedo scored one of the goals of the tournament in front of 40,000 fans in Sydney near the start of the second half, but that was just the beginning of the drama.

Their victory left Colombia top of Group H with a perfect six points. Germany and Morocco have three each and all to play for.

South Korea are still just about alive on zero points.

Germany face the Koreans in the last round of matches while Colombia are up against Morocco.

Singing and dancing Colombian fans vastly outnumbered German supporters in a raucous crowd at Sydney Football Stadium.

Loud boos and whistles went up each time Germany had the ball, and they had plenty of it in the first half.

Lina Magull swung and missed the ball as it sat up invitingly for her in the Colombian penalty area.

Magull was a menace and after making life difficult once more for the Colombian defence, the ball fell to striker Popp with the goal gaping just before the break.

But the usually deadly striker skied her volley high and wide to give the South Americans a huge let-off.

The second half started with Germany, champions in 2003 and 2007, again looking the more likely to score.

Teenager Caicedo started the game for Colombia following a training-ground scare on Thursday when she went down holding her chest.

On 52 minutes she added to her goal from the opening 2-0 win over South Korea with a strike of the highest quality.

The Real Madrid attacker dinked inside, fooled the German defence with a body swerve and bent the ball wonderfully into the top corner.

Germany went in the search of an equaliser and Lena Oberdorf skewed just wide after a corner fell her way.

Colombia thought they had won it but goalkeeper Catalina Perez brought down Oberdorf in the box and Popp defied the whistles to score her penalty, before Vanegas's late intervention.

Earlier in the day Morocco won a Women's World Cup match for the first time with a 1-0 victory over a disappointing South Korea who failed to muster a shot on target.

Franz Beckenbauer, who has died at the age of 78, helped modernise football and came to personify Germany's post-war sporting success, captaining his country to the 1974 World Cup title on home soil to anchor his legacy.

'Der Kaiser', as he was nicknamed for his imperious playing style and command of the game, was for decades synonymous with Germany's success on the pitch, as player and then coach.

He amassed every major honour in his glittering playing career and continued his extraordinary record of success after switching to the manager's bench.

Beckenbauer won 103 caps and captained West Germany to World Cup success in 1974, two years after lifting the European title.

At club level he steered Bayern Munich to three successive European Cup victories from 1974 to 1976 and won the World Club Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup and eight domestic trophies -- four league titles and four cup triumphs.

He was West Germany's footballer of the year a record four times and twice European footballer of the year.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time, and by many as the best European, as a player he invented and defined the modern libero role.

Always calm under pressure and a skilful marshal of his defence, Beckenbauer could read the game so astutely he knew exactly the right moment to surge upfield.

The unhurried sweeper never seemed to break sweat as he sprayed perfect long raking passes to his strikers.

He enjoyed success as a coach while leading the Germans to the 1990 World Cup title in Italy, one of only three men to have won world titles as both player and coach.

But despite heading the 2006 World Cup on home soil as organising chief, his reputation was tarnished in recent years following an investigation into a potential slush fund for that tournament and a 6.7 million euros ($7.34 million) payment to world football's governing body FIFA in 2005.

Beckenbauer, who had been battling several health issues in recent years, denied any wrongdoing and largely withdrew from the public eye.

Born in Munich on Sept. 11 1945, Beckenbauer, a postal official's son who once trained to be an insurance salesman, joined Bayern's youth teams in 1959.

He progressed to the first team and, with Beckenbauer orchestrating from midfield, Bayern rocketed to international prominence from the obscurity of West German regional league soccer to establish the most powerful brand in German football.

Shortly after his 20th birthday Beckenbauer was capped for the first time in a World Cup qualifier against Sweden and became a fixture in the national team for more than a decade.

Beckenbauer produced notable performances in three World Cups before moving across the Atlantic to New York Cosmos in a multi-million-dollar deal in 1977.

He stayed in the United States for three lucrative years before returning to West Germany in a shock that which took him to Bayern's northern rivals Hamburg SV.

Beckenbauer retired to a comfortable life at his home in the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbuehel, spending much of his time on the local golf course.

But he kept in the public eye with a regular column in West Germany's mass-circulation Bild newspaper and eventually took over as Germany coach despite his lack of managerial experience.

Beckenbauer brought discipline to the squad and commanded instant respect.

Less than two years after taking over, he guided West Germany to the 1986 World Cup final in Mexico where they lost 3-2 to Diego Maradona's Argentina.

However, they won the title four years later in rematch against the Argentines to give Beckenbauer a rare World Cup double as player and then coach and enhance his legacy.