Horst Hrubesch doesn’t allow any distractions before the German footballers’ important Nations League game against Iceland.
“We know that it’s not a sure thing and that we have to do a lot,” warned the interim national coach before the encounter on Tuesday (8:00 p.m./zdfsport.de) in Reykjavik.
The 72-year-old wants to build on the 5-1 win against Wales on Friday in the fight for the Olympics. “We have to win, that’s how we approach it. We’ll try to take command from the start.”
Sightseeing is therefore certainly not on the agenda. “We’re not going on vacation here, we’re here to play football,” growled Hrubesch when asked what impressions his team had been able to gather in Iceland.
According to Hrubesch, the fact that the important prime-time game is only broadcast in a live stream and not on linear television shouldn’t matter: “At the moment it can’t bother us. It’s just about the game, everything else is uninteresting.”
In terms of personnel, Hrubesch was only able to look into the defense. Sara Doorsoun should move into central defense to replace the injured Marina Hegering (Achilles tendon problems).
In qualifying for Paris 2024, the DFB women are under pressure as second in Group A3, three points behind Denmark. Only the group winners have a further chance of making it to the Olympic Games.