The former national coaches Silvia Neid and Tina Theune have good advice for the German soccer players to travel to Australia: World Cup titles can only be won with good defence. That’s where the problem is.
What Neid recently wore to the anniversary meeting of the world champions in 2003 was definitely striking: a pink pants suit and a T-shirt with the inscription “Peace”. The successful player and coach of the German Football Association (DFB), who has been involved in all women’s titles to date, relaxed during a lap of honor across the lawn of the well-attended stadium on Bieberer Berg when the German soccer players two and a half ago Weeks played their first World Cup test match against Vietnam (2:1).
And the 59-year-old seemed particularly happy that Saturday when the director in Offenbach was listening to the sounds of the classic “Anyplace. Anywhere. Anytime” recorded by Nena and Kim Wilde. A catchy tune that formed the background music in American stadiums 20 years ago on the way to the first World Cup title. “Once our American security man managed to get this played before warm-up against USA, we owned the stadium in Portland,” says the former national coach Tina Theune in an interview with the sports show.
The 2003 semi-final against the USA as the highlight
The semi-final against the defending champions and hosts (3-0) is still considered one of the best games in the history of German women’s football. Looking back, it is interesting to see the distribution of roles between Theune and Neid at the 2003 World Cup, which was given back to the USA at short notice because of the Sars virus.
Team captain Bettina Wiegmann remembers how head coach Theune preferred the quiet, sensitive tones, while assistant coach Envy sometimes got louder and stricter. Defense chief Ariane Hingst points out that athletics or the pace of the game could no longer be compared to today, “But we played really well football for the time.”
Bettina Wiegmann celebrates with her teammates and the trophy at the 2003 World Cup
In 2023, the circle of favorites will be bigger than ever
The fact that the association brought forward the anniversary meeting of its first world champions a few weeks – October 12 is actually the anniversary of Nia Künzer’s golden goal in the final against Sweden (1-0 aet) in Carson City – was intentional: the beautiful memories shortly before the next one Bringing the World Cup back to life in Australia and New Zealand (July 20th to August 20th) can’t hurt before such a difficult mission that the current national team has to face after arriving in Sydney and settling in the small town of Wyong .
The competitive situation at the ninth edition of a Women’s World Cup is greater than ever; National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg counted eight or nine teams among the favorites, but of course the 55-year-old knows that a reigning European runner-up and current FIFA world number two can hardly aim for anything other than the title. “If we weren’t convinced that we had the potential and the quality to play in this title, then we wouldn’t have declared the goal either.”, so she says. In a nationwide advertising campaign it says quite boldly: “We, who play with pride for our country. And for the 3rd star.”
The defense is the be-all and end-all
Envy finds such claims justified: “We have super good quality, a lot of two-footed players and a lot of speed.” But even the head of the trend scouting women’s football department has not escaped the notice that a basic German virtue is crumbling: the desire to defend. Especially in the botched World Cup dress rehearsal against Zambia (2: 3), the behavior after losing the ball was frightening. Neither the room layout nor the duel behavior were right. Voss-Tecklenburg immediately demanded one “different mentality and physicality” in work against the ball.
envy sees in the “Desire to Defend” a key factor: “That’s why we became world champions in 2007, because the opponents had a hard time with our defense. Defense is the be-all and end-all in tournaments.” She has a good example ready: “This mentioned defensive desire was very noticeable at the 2021 Olympics, for example, where Canada became Olympic champions. No one would have thought it, but they managed to win with their good work against the ball.”
The German team was actually on the right track at the European Championships in England, only conceding their first goal in the semifinals against France (2-1). Until then, goalkeeper Merle Frohms often had to be asked if she was emulating Nadine Angerer, who had kept a clean sheet at the 2007 World Cup.
Still, I have a lot of confidence in the current team
Neid will not be there in Australia and New Zealand for budget reasons, which she secretly regrets very much: getting impressions in the stadium is something different than analyzing the games on the scouting feed on the laptop. And what does Theune actually think of the current generation? “I trust the team to become world champions. Absolutely. They showed what they are capable of last year: they swept the whole of Germany away.”says the 69-year-old.
“I am in frequent contact with Martina Voss-Tecklenburg”, she says, who threw the current national coach out of the national team before the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney in order to keep the unrest away from the DFB selection after her separation from Inka Grings. Everyone has long been reconciled. Theune praises Voss-Tecklenburg as “Best solution for the DFB: She goes her own way, she has charisma and charisma. She is authentic and gets across what she thinks.”
She attributes the correct handling to the national coach: “Dhe players of today are different, very self-confident. You have to communicate well with them, also give them some space, then they will go with you.” Theune is still active and has sponsored blind football for the DFB. As a Fifa mentor, she is one of a group of well-known coaches who are flying to Sydney for the final weekend at the invitation of the world association. And of course she is particularly hoping that the German soccer players did not start their flight home.