“That worked well”
Suddenly she gets the preference
October 29, 2025 – 9:30 a.mReading time: 3 minutes
Before the European Championships, Nicole Anyomi pulled the ripcord herself. Now she’s back. She immediately becomes a key figure against France.
Nicole Anyomi is back – and how. After her dream goal from the edge of the penalty area on Tuesday evening, she clenched her fist, but the real ecstasy didn’t come. After all, it was “only” the interim 1-1 equalizer in the semi-final second leg of the Nations League against France. But with this Anyomi paved the German way to the final.
After another impressive goal from Klara Bühl, Christian Wück’s team ultimately struggled to make it 2-2. Thanks to the 1-0 win in the first leg, Germany reached the final for the first time. Also thanks to Anyomi.
“I had decided that I would open up in the box and shoot. That worked well,” said the striker after the game. It was her first goal in the DFB jersey in two years – a goal that came just in time. Because Anyomi has a turbulent DFB year behind her.
Anyomi has been a regular member of the national team since her debut in 2021 against Belgium. At the 2022 European Championships, she scored her first international goal in the group game against Finland and even made it to the final with the DFB team. She also took part in the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympic Games – and yet mostly remained a second-row player. There was simply no space for the striker.
Former DFB captain Alexandra Popp, who resigned last year, was considered unchallenged, with Lea Schüller standing in her shadow. Laura Freigang also got her time in the front line. In order to give Anyomi playing time, the national coach at the time, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, even put her up as a right-back. Although Anyomi was often part of the German squad, the Krefeld native was hardly able to show her qualities in front of the goal.
Last fall, Anyomi’s situation changed suddenly. In the first squad of national coach Christian Wück, who took over the women’s team in October, he relied on the Frankfurter. Then the turning point: At the beginning of the year there was no longer any trace of her to be seen. Anyomi scored almost at will for Eintracht and was the best scorer in the league at the time with 14 goals and 9 assists. She was still left out of the DFB team – first for weeks, then for months. There was even a small discussion about her before the European Championships this year.
“There hasn’t been any concrete and direct exchange recently,” said Anyomi in the “Watson” interview when asked about her relationship with the national coach. The statement caused waves. Anyomi joined a list of players who were suddenly left out, including Carolin Simon and Felicitas Rauch. National coach Wück was confronted with accusations of a lack of communication.