Germany's 2-0 win over Poland to begin their Women's European Championship campaign on Friday was overshadowed by what looked to be another serious knee injury for team captain Giulia Gwinn, who was helped off the field in tears just before the break.
Gwinn, who has twice suffered anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, was distraught after twisting her leg while preventing what looked to be a certain Polish goal and had to be replaced in the 40th minute by Carlotta Wamser, who came off the bench cold for her Euros debut in defence.
"The worst we can do is to speculate," Germany coach Christian Wück told reporters of Gwinn's injury after the win in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Tomorrow at 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. there is the MRI in Zurich. After that, we will know more. Doctors can tell us if it's bad or not.
"I didn't see the foul, I just know they prevented an almost sure goal. That would be really bad for us if it is something serious."
Many of Gwinn's teammates looked shocked as they went to comfort her before she was assisted from the field five minutes before the break, but Wück said they were quick to focus again.
"I think that the injury was not really a topic [at the break] and we discussed the game. We talked about how we wanted to score against the Poles and what we wanted to do better," he explained. "We have 23 players and we are convinced that every single one of them can be a replacement for someone else, and Carlotta showed that."
Eight-time European champions Germany were much more effective in the second half and wrapped up the three points thanks to a goal and an assist from Jule Brand.
After the game, Germany's players and the coach ran back to the dressing room before coming back out to applaud their supporters.
"Of course, we went to Giulia," Wück said. "I said straight away we are going to talk to her and, after that, we are going back out to see the fans."
Germany are looking for their first major title since winning their eighth European Championship in 2013. They went close at the last edition, losing to host England 2-1 after extra time in the 2022 final.
Information from ESPN's Julien Laurens, Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.