The soccer World Cup is just around the corner. Eintracht player Sophia Kleinherne will also be there in Australia and New Zealand. In your luggage: tips for sleeping and anticipating a visit to a café in Frankfurt.
The countdown to the soccer World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is on. National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg has on Saturday announced their final squad for the World Cup. The DFB plane takes off for Down Under on Tuesday evening. Sophia Kleinherne from Frankfurt will also be on board. For the defender, it is already the second major tournament with the national team after the EM 2022.
“It’s a huge privilege for me to be nominated for the World Cup. I’m really honored to be able to represent Germany in Australia,” said Kleinherne in an interview with hr3. “I’m looking forward to lots and lots of exciting games – not only with German participation – but generally also getting to know the other nations and game philosophies.”
On July 24, this meeting turns into a meeting. Then the national team will play their first World Cup group game against Morocco.
Sleep tips and lucky charms should help
To ensure that the players are really fit at the start of the tournament, they have received various tips from the DFB on how to optimize their sleep and minimize jet lag. After all, the time difference to Germany is eight hours.
Away from the pitch, Kleinherne still has a secret weapon: her mother’s lucky charm. “It’s a ritual that she always gives me a lucky charm for big games or tournaments. That went through,” said the 23-year-old. The talisman should ensure that the national team makes it as far as possible.
“I will miss the summer days in Frankfurt”
Despite the rather weak performance in the last friendlies before the World Cup, the DFB team is one of the favorites as European runners-up. The final on August 20th is the goal, but at the same time it would mean that Kleinherne would have to do without the summer days and café visits in Frankfurt for a long time. And she will miss her the most in Australia, she revealed to hr3.
“But I know very well that I’ll still have enough of that when I come back from Australia. So you can bridge it quite well,” said Kleinherne. For her, the success of the national team is of course the top priority and: “There are a lot of new things waiting for us in Australia in terms of culture. I’m just super excited.”
