analysis
Almost three weeks before the start of the European Championships in England, there are still many unknowns in the German women’s national team.
There was a good mood when the German soccer players held their afternoon session in Herzogenaurach on Thursday. Demanding exercises were already built into the warm-up program: three teams playing the ball either with their hands or with their feet; All this in a small space with changing tasks. Of course, at some point in the confusion, there was laughter on the spacious “home ground” at the DFB outfitter’s headquarters.
Sara Däbritz and Almuth Schult are particularly in demand
The obligatory media day in the “Halftime” building was like a pigeonhole, which gave a good picture of the hierarchical situation of the German women’s national team for the European Championships in England (July 6th – 31st). The soon to be Champions League winners Olympique Lyon changing Sara Däbritz and Almuth Schult, who will soon play in the USA, were placed in larger seating areas.
Midfielder Däbritz is temporarily promoted to leader instead of captain Alexandra Popp, who is suffering from Corona and is therefore also missing from the official team picture; Goalkeeper Schult is considered the mouthpiece of German women’s football, despite being relegated to the back.
“Everyone talks all day”
Anyone who took a picture of the mood and opinions outside of these two sought-after executives found that things seemed to be right before this tournament. Däbritz even thinks that the mix of “young carefree and experienced players” now fits perfectly. The 27-year-old has experienced ups and downs in 85 international matches with the DFB selection, which is why the France legionnaire formulates the goal a little more cautiously than many others: “We want to be among the six to eight teams that can fulfill their dream of winning the title.”
She is pleased about the open communication: “Everyone talks all day.” Laura Freigang from Eintracht Frankfurt also manages to create self-deprecating short videos about her fellow players on social media, which achieve amazing viewing figures.
The final cut is still being postponed
The first tournament after three years is not just about doing better than at the 2019 World Cup or 2017 European Championship – Oliver Bierhoff’s DFB management now expressly wants the semi-finals – but also an overarching fight for attention is playing in the motherland of football With.
There are still 28 players in the squad, some of them injured. It makes little sense to filter out the final 23-man squad from the 28-man squad this Saturday. Voss-Tecklenburg will probably only make the final cut at the last training camp in Herzogenaurach (June 21 to 29): “It’s important that we don’t go to the European Championship with too many question marks.”
It could go against England in the quarter-finals of the European Championship
If the 54-year-old is honest, there is a big question mark over everything anyway; especially when it comes to the performance of the eight-time European champion in a rapidly intensifying European comparison. After the media day and before the squad reduction, the DFB women played a test against a male junior team on the Adi Dassler sports field on Friday – as usual behind closed doors. Otherwise, there is only one official international match: only in Erfurt against Switzerland next Friday (5 p.m.) will the eleven that will work in the opening game of the European Championship against Denmark (July 8) in Brentford be publicly visible.
After that, another all-or-nothing game awaits a German team in west London against co-favorites Spain (July 12). Realistically, it’s all about having all options for the quarter-finals before the last European Championship group game against Finland (July 16), where hosts England can be the opponents. At least until then, the good mood should last.