On Friday, the German women’s national team will face Denmark in the Nations League. To qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games, a victory is not the only requirement.
The signs are more than clear: the DFB women have to win. There is no back door, no arithmetic games, just the sheer duty of defeating both Denmark on Friday (December 1st, 2023) and away from Wales four days later. If this does not happen, the German women’s national team will not take part in the Olympic Games in Paris next year.
The reason for this is what happened in the first leg in Denmark. The German team was clearly still suffering from the consequences of being eliminated in the group phase at the World Cup in the summer, and there was also the irritation surrounding the now-sacked national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, who had to be represented by assistant coach Britta Carlson. And so the DFB women didn’t achieve much against the Scandinavians, Denmark won quite easily 2-0.
Hrubesch calls for “going one step further”
Accordingly, the task for the team now trained by Horst Hrubesch is to be able to equalize or even win the direct comparison against the current league leaders. This is the only way Germany can become group winners in the preliminary round of the Nations League and reach the semi-finals. This requires a win with at least a two-goal difference.
“The starting position is clear, we have to win the game – we have to win it clearly. There’s no way around it. Of course the Danes will do everything they can to oppose it, we know that – but then we’ll see who is willing to take a step further. And I hope that we will be at the end of the day” said Hrubesch.
Winning the group is far from enough
The game against Denmark will be an early final. If the revenge is successful (to an appropriate extent), the semi-final is almost certain, as the following game against Wales can be seen as more of a must-do and less of a test. The 5:1 in the first leg proved this quite clearly. However, secure qualification for Paris would require a little more effort than winning the group.
Only the two winners of the Nations League semi-finals will receive the coveted Olympic ticket – so the DFB women need not just two, but three victories in a row. In this case, however, there is a small loophole. France is one of the teams that is well on its way to qualifying for the semi-finals and should it be the “Equipe Tricolore“Make it to the final, third place would be enough – because the French are already guaranteed to be at the Olympic Games as hosts.
Däbritz: “We will overcome this together”
The situation of the DFB women is easy to understand, but far from comfortable. But under Hrubesch, the team has apparently regained its composure and developed new courage; the World Cup exit and its aftermath seem to have been digested. The Germans are approaching the upcoming task against Denmark in a correspondingly positive manner.
“We will get through this together. I feel the conviction in the whole team“, promised Sara Däbritz. And goalkeeper Merle Frohms, who is back after recovering from a concussion, also spread similar optimism: “We know we are capable of beating Denmark. We don’t have to do any miracles to do this.“