Captain Alexandra Popp was on board when the German women’s soccer team took the bus from the training camp in Herzogenaurach to the dress rehearsal for the European Championships in Thuringia.
After surviving the corona infection, the striker from German champions VfL Wolfsburg is in the DFB squad in the international match against Switzerland on June 24 (5 p.m. / ZDF) in Erfurt. “Of course, the Corona story wasn’t that great, it wasn’t a good moment. But she put it through well and is fresh,” reported national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg.
On Tuesday, after six days of isolation, Popp returned to the group of EM drivers. The 31-year-old’s fitness build-up has been going according to plan since then. “The status is very good. There are no problems and it’s going in the right direction,” said the national coach.
It was only in April that Popp made her comeback in the DFB jersey after a protracted knee injury against Portugal. The 2016 Olympic champion is hoping for her first European Championship participation after missing out on injuries in 2013 and 2017. “Of course it set her back a bit, so it was all the nicer to see her on the training ground today. And we still have a little time to get her to do it for 90 minutes at some point,” said Voss- Tecklenburg. Popp will definitely not play full-time against the Swiss, who the 54-year-old coached from 2012 to 2018.