The huge jukeboxes that both teams brought to England for the European Championships were used in wild booth dances.
In the quarter-finals, Germany and Austria’s soccer players now want to pull the plug on their opponents. “It’s not about who celebrates better, but who plays better on the pitch,” emphasized DFB defender Sara Doorsoun before the emotional neighborhood duel on Thursday (9 p.m. / ARD and DAZN) at the Brentford Community Stadium.
“Heart Against Heart”
The record European champions are looking forward to a “heart against heart” duel, as Joti Chatzialexiou calls it, head of the national teams at the German Football Association. “It’s a derby, it’s going to be very passionate. But – and that’s our self-image and that’s how we went into the tournament: We’ll also decide in the quarter-finals who will be the winner.”
The flawless preliminary round record and above all the mentality let national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg go into the game full of confidence in her team. “You could see that the team works incredibly well, even players who come off the bench are behind you. It’s incredibly fun to play with such a spirit and team spirit,” said the 54-year-old. “I’m very relaxed because I’m very sure that we’ll perform well. If we’re awake straight away, then we’re just good.”
Schuller back to Corona
But the Austrians “will run until they drop,” warned captain Alexandra Popp, who has scored a goal in every preliminary round game. The 31-year-old from VfL Wolfsburg will probably play from the start again: Goalscorer Lea Schüller from FC Bayern Munich was back on the pitch for the first time on Tuesday after being isolated for almost a week in the team hotel due to a positive corona test. The Wolfsburg players Lena Oberdorf and Felicitas Rauch, who were recently suspended, will definitely return to the team.