Goalkeeper Merle Frohms had already emphasized after the quarter-final win against Austria: “I think we have a world-class team that is capable of a lot.” The previous zero is “also a sign to other teams that it takes a lot to score a goal against us.”
England and Sweden will play the first European Championship finalists on Tuesday. France will face Germany with many players from Champions League winners Olympique Lyon, such as the 1.87 meter tall Renard, but also with two days less preparation. What coach Corinne Diacre does not seem to worry about: “When you win, you recover faster and faster.”
Your German colleague expects a game at eye level. “We have to try to give them little space. We’ll give everything we’ve got on Wednesday,” promised Voss-Tecklenburg. “I believe that France also has respect for the performance we have shown.”
For the DFB team, it is the first semi-final in a tournament since the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, when they won gold under coach Silvia Neid. It has also achieved the goal that DFB director Oliver Bierhoff had set for the women’s European Championship and also for the men’s national team at the World Cup in Qatar this year.
“I think anyone who has seen the German team has to honestly say that they are top favourites,” said Nadine Kessler, UEFA department head, former world footballer at VfL Wolfsburg and European champion in 2013. The DFB team is “really the big one Number here and it’s going to be hard to beat her.”