It’s about a ticket to the Olympics and the starting position is difficult: the German soccer women need a clear win against Denmark. Interim national coach Horst Hrubesch is in good spirits.
Participation in the Summer Olympics is at stake, but Horst Hrubesch lets the enormous pressure ricochet off him. “These are actually the games you want”said the interim national coach succinctly before he met the German footballers in Rostock on Monday (November 27th, 2023) to get them in the mood for the decisive one Nations League-Games gathered.
A clear victory is needed
But the initial situation is tough. “We have to win it clearly”said Hrubesch before the duel with league leaders Denmark on Friday (8.30 p.m.) in the Ostseestadion. And they were three points behind with at least a two-goal difference to make up for the 2-0 loss from the first leg.
Because only the group winners have it Final Four At the end of February you still have the chance to win one of only two tickets for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. Four days later we are bottom with no points Wales (7.30 p.m./im Live stream at sportschau.de) the last hurdle.
Better mood and new things self-consciousness
The defeat in Viborg, Denmark, in September was the first game after the World Cup debacle, and the already unsettled DFB team was completely in limbo. Martina Voss-Tecklenburg was ill and assistant coach Britta Carlson couldn’t prevent the false start. The “MVT” chapter has only been over since the beginning of November after a long hangover. Hrubesch is supposed to pull the cart out of the mud with his accumulated experience.
The beginning has been made, even if not everything was successful in terms of football. 5:1 against Wales and the vice-European champions won 2-0 in Iceland under his leadership. “Conviction, looseness and belief in yourself” are back, noted the 72-year-old. Before that, he had felt nagging doubts about the team that he had already led to World Cup qualification as a firefighter in 2018.
Stroot also believes in the team again
Even back then, reported national player Lina Magull, the HSV idol was in the DFB selection “It’s incredibly good because he’s an absolute catcher of people. He tries to keep the game simple and not to complicate everything. That’s what we need now.”
The coach of the German cup winners VfL Wolfsburg also continues to believe in the German footballers’ Olympic chances. He sees things differently than a few months ago “again a certain conviction, a certain quality, a certain development”to win a game like the important game against Denmark, said Tommy Stroot. He be “Convinced that the German national team will play a good game against the Danes and that they really have the opportunity to win by two goals and thus move into the next round.”
Without Schuller and Oberdorf
Lea Schüller’s failure is all the more unfortunate. The injured Bayern striker has a top rate with 35 goals in 54 international matches. Hrubesch nominated the experienced Lena Petermann (29) from Leicester City, whose 21st and last international match was over three and a half years ago.
The fact that Wolfsburg’s Lena Oberdorf (back problems) is missing as a clearer in midfield doesn’t make the task any easier. But Hrubesch doesn’t complain. “Now I can train extensively, I’m looking forward to that”he said, grateful for more units than the previous measure.
Denmark also has concerns
And the Danes don’t have the best line-up either; star striker and captain Pernille Harder from Bayern Munich is missing due to injury. And then with over 18,000 fans in the stands there is the home advantage, which should once again release strength at the end of a deeply disappointing year.