It is particularly fitting that Martina Voss-Tecklenburg is not so easily upset. The national coach exudes the mixture of confidence and drive she is used to when it comes to the further development of the German women’s national team.
“Turn failures into opportunities”
Because currently the 54-year-old must also be an unshakable optimist if the DFB-women take part in a top-class four-country tournament in England, the indicator for the EM-Finals should be in the summer (July 6th to 31st) – but is now made more difficult by more than a dozen failures. The so-called “Arnold Clark Cup” with games in Middlesbrough against secret favorites Spain (Thursday 3.30 p.m. in the live stream on sportschau.de), in Norwich against Olympic champions Canada (February 20, 9.15 p.m. in the live stream on sportschau.de) and in Wolverhampton against hosts England (February 23, 8.30 p.m.) will be an endurance test with a handicap.
“We want to turn this into an opportunity“, assures Voss-Tecklenburg. “These are three top nations that demand everything from us. We’re happy because we really need it five months before the European Championships.” But the German footballers, who gathered at Frankfurt Airport on Monday and traveled to the English north-east on Tuesday after marketing activities and a training session on the grounds of SC Weiss-Blau Frankfurt, are now severely weakened by replacements.
Pragmatic approach
Captain Alexandra Popp (VfL Wolfsburg), Marina Hegering, Laura Benkarth and Sydney Lohmann (all FC Bayern), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Olympique Lyon) and Melanie Leupolz, who suffers from long-Covid consequences (Chelsea FC) was not even nominated. After that there were several corona findings at VfL Wolfsburg, so Svenja Huth, Kathrin Hendrich and Tabea Waßmuth are not there. Goalkeeper Almuth Schult had to be in quarantine as a contact person by official order, Lena Lattwein had a bad cold. A corona test also showed a positive result for all-rounder Sjoeke Nüsken (Eintracht Frankfurt), who has developed so well.
“It can happen“, says the trainer very pragmatically. She nominated Leonie Maier (Everton FC), Chantal Hagel, Martina Tufekovic and Sarai Linder (TSG Hoffenheim), Hasret Kayikci (SC Freiburg) and Ramona Petzelberger (AstonVilla) after. Striker Selina Cerci (Turbine Potsdam) and defender Sara Doorsoun, who switched to Eintracht Frankfurt in the winter and who still wants to play at the European Championship, should be given probation anyway. The basic principles demanded by Voss-Tecklenburg remain despite the failures. “I want to see a good conviction and game rest.”
Encouragement from colleague Hansi Flick
The trainer found the visit of national coach Hansi Flick and DFB director Oliver Bierhoff for lunch at the team hotel at Frankfurt Airport to be an incentive before departure. “Not only do we want to go back to the top of the world, women also want to go back to the top of the world“, said Flick, such a “Together“be there one”good sign“. With a view to the men’s World Cup in Qatar in winter, Bierhoff emphasized: “It’s obviously a very important year for both teams.”
Especially for the national coach: The European Championship in England, which was postponed by a year due to the pandemic, is only the second tournament for the Duisburg native, who had successfully worked on the development of the Swiss Football Association for years. Then the 125-time national player switched to DFB. She took over the women previously looked after by Horst Hrubesch almost a little too late for the 2019 World Cup in France. Some of the interactions between the coaching staff and the players weren’t quite right, and the loss in the quarter-finals against Sweden was also due to this fact.
Finally real indicators
When the European Championship starts with the opening match against the runner-up Denmark (July 8th), three years will have passed almost to the day since this bitter defeat. The true level of performance is still difficult to assess. Because the many one-sided European Championship and World Cup qualifiers often provide little information, despite all the efforts on the part of the German side.
The test run is also so important to Voss-Tecklenburg because some development points are only now being put to the test, which are ultimately decisive in knockout games at major tournaments: “What compactness and pressing, the group tactical defensive moments“come on, become one”be a bit further after the tournament“. And also like their ensemble “deal mentally with pressure situations“.
Much praise for the Spaniards
The first opponent seems tailor-made. Sure, the Canadians come to the island with the recommendation of the gold medal from Tokyo, and the English women will live up to the expectations of the whole football nation by summer at the latest, but as far as football development in the recent past is concerned, nobody can fool the Spaniards, finds the national coach. “In terms of sport, it’s outstanding: For me, Spain is the most complete team in the world right now.”