High-profile visit to the German footballers: Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Alexandra Popp and Co. on the DFB campus in Frankfurt/Main on Tuesday afternoon (5 p.m.).
“We are happy that he is coming,” said interim national coach Horst Hrubesch and viewed the appointment as “clear appreciation”.
Scholz had already shown himself to be a fan of the women’s national team in the past. In February he watched the international match against Sweden live in the stadium. Around Germany’s entry into the final of the 2022 European Championships, the 65-year-old campaigned for equal pay and then visited the new campus in Frankfurt for the first time for discussions.
Hrubesch is celebrating a comeback as national women’s coach
Under the leadership of 72-year-old Hrubesch, the European vice-champions are preparing for the upcoming Nations League games. After weeks of sick leave, the future of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg remains unclear after the World Cup debacle in the summer.
“I expect him to bring back the joy. I’ve only heard good things,” said midfielder Lena Oberdorf (VfL Wolfsburg) about Hrubesch. The former header monster had already looked after the DFB team as an interim solution in 2018 and is expected to be on the sidelines for at least four games.
Against Wales on Friday (5:45 p.m.) in Sinsheim and four days later in the away game in Iceland (8:00 p.m.), six points are needed in the fight for the Olympics. “We have a clear mission that we are pursuing here,” said Oberdorf: “We have two wins in mind and want to increase our performance.”
Only the four Nations League group winners in the A-League still have a chance of winning one of two European tickets for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. After a 2-0 defeat in Denmark and a 4-0 win against Iceland, Germany can’t afford any more slip-ups. “We want to determine what’s going on on the pitch,” was Hrubesch’s brief for “the big goal of the Olympics.”