The German soccer players arrived in Australia on Thursday. In the first easy training session, the ailing Wolfsburg women Marina Hegering and Lena Oberdorf were still able to.
After a 27-hour journey, the DFB entourage reached their World Cup base in Wyong, a town with 4,500 inhabitants, at 9.30 a.m. local time on Thursday morning (14 July 2023). The record European champion resides there in a golf hotel.
The national team flew on Tuesday evening (July 12th, 2023) from Frankfurt/Main towards Down Under and after a stopover in Dubai got off in Sydney in the best weather. It’s 22 degrees during the day, and it’s winter in Australia right now.
“We’re all up for it, we’re all in the mood. But right now you’re still a bit lethargic and tired. We’re just happy to be here now,” said midfielder Oberdorf in a DFB video. A part of the travel convoy with a total of 70 people had already been there half a day before and greeted the players with black, red and gold flags at the hotel. With a weary “Ahoy” Captain Alexandra Popp greeted her as she got off the bus.
MVT: “Must keep the players awake”
The first easy training session at the Central Coast Regional Sporting & Recreation Sporting Complex was then on the program a few hours after arrival. “Above all, we have to keep the players awake,” said national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. The jet lag should be overcome as quickly as possible. The injured Oberdorf (muscle injury in the thigh) and Hegering (bruised heel) from VfL Wolfsburg were still absent from the first training session.
Oberdorf feels “a bit like in the jungle”
The DFB women set up their base camp in Wyong, almost 100 kilometers north of Sydney, throughout the tournament. For a moment she felt “a bit like in the jungle” when she arrived, said Oberdorf: “But it’s a very quiet location, it feels pretty good.”
The German soccer players still have a week and a half before the start of the World Cup: the first group game against Morocco is not on the agenda in Melbourne until July 24 (10:30 a.m. CEST/ZDF). The other duels in the preliminary round will follow with Colombia on July 30 (11:30 a.m. CEST/live on the first) in Sydney and South Korea in Brisbane on August 3 (12 p.m. CEST/ZDF).