In terms of sport, the final group match between Germany and Finland is of no value to the DFB women. The chance for players from the second row – or will the rhythm then be lost? National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg wants to pay attention to the balance.
Even after the opening game, Voss-Tecklenburg emphasized that he could use all 23 players. 18 of them have now played. “And I didn’t have the feeling that the level would have dropped when there was a change,” said Jule Brand, who had two joker bets. “We maintained the level and kept creating new chances.” And Tabea Waßmuth also believes in the strength (of) the bank: “Everyone who comes in can change the game. That can definitely become a weapon. And it’s really cool that we have this privilege, that we have 23 super good players to have.”
If you deduct the two reserve goalkeepers, only Sara Doorsoun, Nicole Anyomi and Laura Freigang (all Eintracht Frankfurt) are still waiting for their first appearance. Will they be used in the game against Finland (07/16/2022/21:00 CEST)?
The only thing that is certain so far is that the national coach will have to replace the suspended Lena Oberdorf and Felicitas Rauch in their starting line-up. In addition, Lina Magull should be rested due to thigh problems.
Finland in mind, quarter-finals in mind
“We have a few failures that we have to deal with,” said Voss-Tecklenburg on Friday. “But we can compensate for that. The size of the squad absolutely makes it possible.” Rotation yes, but with a good balance, the national coach announces that she expects the Finns to “want to say goodbye to this European Championship in a decent way”. Your team will “take on the game with a lot of joy and energy and then return to Brentford to take the next step”.
We’ll go into the game with a lot of joy and energy and then come back to Brentford to take the next step.
Whichever way you look at it: The team has the final group game in mind, but they have to have the quarter-finals next Thursday (July 21, 2022/9 p.m. CEST, live on Erste and on sportschau.de) in mind. How much rotation can she put the team through without getting out of step? And how much rotation does it take to conserve energy for the knockout games?
Kleinherne and Lattwein before their debut at the European Championship
Sophia Kleinherne came highly recommended for her debut at the European Championships. From the 62nd minute on, Rauch moved to the position of left-back. The Frankfurter showed a very courageous performance against Spain, didn’t lose a ball and won most of her duels. “I wanted to be there when I got the chance,” revealed the 22-year-old, adding with a smile: “I’m happy.”
Even if Kleinherne emphasized that “it’s not set in stone that I’ll start against Finland”, there should be no way around her, just like Lena Lattwein. The Wolfsburg midfielder acted as a joker in the first two games, as if she were an old hand and not a newcomer to the European Championship. She already celebrated her goal debut against Denmark (4:0). Linda Dallmann, who had her first assignments at the European Championships five years ago, should take over the creative part of Magull.
Different means than requested against Denmark and Spain
After the team’s impressive defensive performance against Spain, Voss-Tecklenburg said: “We showed the right fight and spirit. We will need other means against Finland.” The duel with the actually strong Danes is not comparable to the third group game.
Against an opponent who is certainly deep, you need speed in the game. Svenja Huth and Klara Bühl made sure of that in the first two games. Huth has 180 exhausting minutes in his legs. Bühl left the field after just 61 minutes against Spain, but by then he had already run ten kilometers and fought in an incredible 29 duels. With that, the left wing even left the clearer Lena Oberdorf (23) far behind, although she was on the field until the 84th minute. This is where Brand and Waßmuth could come into play.
Defense chief Hegering threatens yellow suspension in knockout round
But the “yellow danger” is still lurking: Defense chief Marina Hegering would miss the quarter-finals if he received another yellow card. In Rauch, MVT is already missing a link in their back four. Whatever the national coach decides in the personnel puzzle, one thing is certain. “We want to take the euphoria with us,” said Merle Frohms. The goalkeeper should be one of the few to have her place in the starting line-up.