National coach Horst Hrubesch surprised everyone with his squad for the important final games in the Nations League. Because: He does without some well-known players.
For the German women’s national team, everything is at stake this week: both victory in the Nations League and the Olympic ticket. Only if Germany clears this hurdle will the DFB team be in Paris in the summer.
The easiest way would be to win directly on Friday in a duel with the French, who have already qualified as hosts (from 9 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online). Two tickets for the Olympics are up for grabs, and Germany would be guaranteed one of them as a finalist. If France’s hurdle is too big for national coach Horst Hrubesch and his team, qualification would still be possible with a win in the game for third place against the loser of the second semi-final between Spain and the Netherlands.
“Our goal is clear: We want to win both games. It will be important to physically resist and to play football in a self-determined manner, with conviction. Such games are decided by will,” said Hrubesch last – and immediately indicated what he meant expects his players: every single one has to give their all.
In order to achieve the main goal of Olympic qualification, Hrubesch has a few surprises in store for his squad (read more about this here). In addition to well-known players such as goalkeeper Merle Frohms and captain Alexandra Popp, the coach is also relying on new faces: striker Vivien Endemann from VfL Wolfsburg is about to make her debut in the DFB jersey, Frankfurt’s Pia-Sophie Wolter is returning to the squad after a long time – More experienced players had to give way.
Former Bayern star and Wolfsburg player are missing
The vice European champions Lina Magull, Lena Lattwein, Nicole Anyomi and Felicitas Rauch as well as the players Chantal Hagel, Paulina Krumbiegel and Janina Minge are not there. A potentially risky decision by coach Hrubesch. t-online took a close look at the players’ situation.
Lina Magull: The midfielder has just moved from FC Bayern to Inter Milan. With this change she wants to take another leap in her career. Recently Magull’s career had a hitch. She no longer played a role for national coach Hrubesch and in Munich, the local coach Alexander Straus rarely relied on the 29-year-old.
Magull nevertheless reacted with disappointment to the non-nomination, as she recently revealed in an interview with “Kicker”: “I had hoped that I would be considered again because of my performance for the national team. That’s why I’m a little disappointed.” She hopes that she will “be an integral part of the team again in the near future. I still feel like I’m part of the team,” said the 75-time national player.
Hrubesch justified the waiver when the squad was announced by saying that Magull was a player who “you have to bring in from the start.” Due to his recent lack of match practice, he decided not to be nominated. If Germany gets the Olympic ticket, Magull still has four months to play his way back into the German team. In the interview she at least said: “I would really like to play at the Olympics again.”
Magull celebrated her greatest successes with the DFB team with the runner-up European Championship in England in 2022 and winning the title at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.
Lena Lattwein: Midfield ace Lattwein was also taken out by Hrubesch. Although she is part of the permanent team in Wolfsburg, her quality is obviously not good enough for the national team at the moment. “For me, she doesn’t actually play what she can play,” said Hrubesch at a DFB media roundtable last week. He expected “much, much more from her. Given the midfield offer I had, I had to make a decision and decided against Lena.”