The Dutch national coach Andries Jonker sees no reason to underestimate the German footballers before the “final” for participation in the Olympics.
“Germany is still a top team“, said the 62-year-old Bondscoach before the duel on Wednesday evening in Heerenveen (8.45 p.m. / live in the Sportschau audio stream), and Horst Hrubesch’s selection also had the 1:2 in France “well played, they were better“. The Dutch lost their semi-final against world champions Spain 0-3.
Jonker is plagued by personnel problems before the game in the Abe Lenstra Stadium, which is expected to be sold out with more than 27,000 spectators. After midfielder Victoria Pevlova and attacker Vivianne Miedema, both of whom have already returned to their club FC Arsenal, another top performer in Danielle van de Donk from Olympique Lyon is in danger of missing the match. “These are three regular players. But we will also solve these problems“said Jonker. He expects a game on “Eye level“.
DFB women “a pretty good team”
Kerstin Casparij also doesn’t want to be blinded by the recent mixed performances of the DFB selection. “They’re a pretty good team,” said the 23-year-old Twente Enschede defender. And “of course they have pop“. To the German captain, emphasized Casparij, “we have to be particularly careful“. She doesn’t expect any surprises: “We know what we’re dealing with. It’s going to be a pretty physical game.“
Jonker, former Bundesliga coach of the men’s teams at FC Bayern and VfL Wolfsburg, is relying on goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar from Twente Enschede in view of the absences. “She is one of the most talented goalkeepers in the world“, he said.