Despite the recent doubts about the title, Voss-Tecklenburg is confident. You believe in the ninth triumph for Germany, said the 54-year-old after the women’s cup final in the sports show, “Otherwise I won’t go to the European Championship.”
Only in April, however, did the bankruptcy in the World Cup qualification in Serbia (2: 3) dampen hopes. Playmaker Dzsenifer Marozsan also tore his cruciate ligament on this used day and is now missing as an experienced regular. Voss-Tecklenburg sees whining as not an option: “We have to settle it collectively.”
Preparation begins on Pentecost Sunday
The search for a powerful formation, which is repeatedly made difficult by failures, does not make it any easier. In goal, there is also an explosive question as to whether Merle Frohms (Eintracht Frankfurt) will remain number one or whether the experienced challenger Almuth Schult (VfL Wolfsburg) will still be in the running after a strong season.
Since the group phase is already tough with opponents Denmark being vice-European, co-favourite Spain and Finland, preparation is all the more important. It starts on Pentecost Sunday, but only for part of the squad. The DFB women will then be the first team ever to use the training grounds of the stylish new DFB academy in Frankfurt.
In the course from June 12th to 18th in Herzogenaurach, the players from the double winners from Wolfsburg, who will probably form the largest block of the squad, will also join the team. The EM dress rehearsal is on June 24th in Erfurt against Switzerland. And on July 3, the plane will fly from Frankfurt to London, where the DFB selection will be based in Brentford in the west of the metropolis.
The semi-final is the goal
Most recently, the 2017 European Championship and the 2019 World Cup ended in the quarterfinals. This has not changed the high demands placed on the 2016 Olympic champion and two-time world champion. DFB director Oliver Bierhoff explained last November: “Our aim is to finish in the last four at any men’s or women’s tournament.”
Source: sid