The German soccer players travel to the World Cup opening game in Melbourne on Sunday with a positive feeling. “There’s nothing nicer right now. It’s becoming tangible. The fact that we can finally get on the plane makes the team very excited,” said left-back Felicitas Rauch one day before leaving Wyong, Australia.
The title mission against Morocco begins for the DFB women (10:30 a.m. CEST/ZDF) on Monday. The German team expects the World Cup debutants to be “physically very strong,” as Rauch explained. “The deep fuse is important,” and the team must “really be on the air.”
The dress rehearsal against Zambia (2-3) was “very important” in preparation for the opening game, said Rauch. Midfielder Lena Lattwein also highlighted this week’s closed game against a local club’s male U15s: They “simulated Morocco a bit. It was a good test”.
The DFB women want to make up for the fact that top performers Lena Oberdorf (thigh) and Marina Hegering (bruised heel) are unlikely to play and Sjoeke Nüsken (ligament strain in his knee) is traveling to Melbourne. Lattwein also emphasized that they are not planning to switch to central defense to replace Hegering.
“It makes me optimistic that we have very high quality in the squad,” said Rauch. “We have players in central defense as well as in the six who can take over the positions.”