The German footballers suffered a setback at the end of the European Championship preview in England. The weakened team of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg lost 1: 3 (1: 1) to the hosts in the classic in Wolverhampton.
In an intense encounter, Ellen White (15′), Millie Bright (84′) and Fran Kirby (90’+4′) scored for England, while Lina Magull (41′) equalized with a free kick worth seeing. After the 1:1 against Spain and the 0:1 against Olympic champions Canada, the German team ended the four-nation tournament in last place, but gained valuable insights.
The DFB women will play their next game in the World Cup qualifier on April 9 in Bielefeld against Portugal. Then it’s off to the hot phase before the EURO title hunt in the mother country of football (July 6th to 31st).
As against Canada, Lena Oberdorf (VfL Wolfsburg) was rested because of minor knee problems. Voss-Tecklenburg changed their starting XI to a total of five positions, including Merle Frohms (Eintracht Frankfurt), the regular number one, who replaced Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea FC) in goal.
The DFB team, which is currently missing 14 European Championship candidates, started well. A header from Maximiliane Rall (11′) and a shot from Magull (12′) offered chances for an early lead.
But as in the two games before, the German selection, which was tentative at times, fell behind. Without much resistance, the Lionesses played their way into the penalty area, where record goalscorer White shot freely behind Sophia Kleinherne and didn’t give Frohms a chance with an outside instep.
The hosts now dominated the action, but the record European champions didn’t give up despite problems with the English attacking pressing. A stationary ball equalized: Bayern captain Magull circled a free kick from about 18 meters over the wall, and the ball bounced off the underside of the crossbar into the goal.
A similar picture emerged after the break. The fans created a good atmosphere, the intensity remained high, but the pace of the game slowed down – until the decisive final offensive.