At VfL Wolfsburg she usually played in midfield, but Voss-Tecklenburg saw her in her own strength – right at the front. “The plan with her in the nine position was a collaborative process that Alex in particular was very concerned about.” After her severe knee injury last year, Popp had enough to do with getting fit again. During the preparation in Herzogenaurach, she also caught Corona.
Trainer praise for Schüller
In the first European Championship game against Denmark, she came off the bench for goal scorer Lea Schüller and scored 4-0 – remained in the starting eleven after the Bayern striker caught a positive corona test. Like now Munich’s Klara Bühl, who fails against France.
“She is one of our very important leading players. Of course we hope that she will keep her small streak,” said the national coach about Popp. Of course, the 54-year-old also has Schüller, who returned to the squad against Austria, long back on the screen: “There can come a moment when you need both – either one after the other or together.”
Voss-Tecklenburg then praised Schüller for how the 24-year-old Bundesliga top scorer is now dealing with her new role: “She’s fantastic in training.” Since Schüller is also the typical central attacker, the future Wolfsburg player Jule Brand (previously TSG 1899 Hoffenheim) is considered a replacement candidate for Bühl on the left. At 19, the top talent is the youngest in the DFB team and has only made part-time appearances at the European Championships.