Norwich (AP) – National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg was “a bit taken down” after the unfortunate 1-0 defeat of the German soccer players.
“I don’t know exactly why we lost,” said the 54-year-old after the game against Olympic champions Canada at the European Championship preparation tournament in England, but she was full of praise for her younger and weaker team.
“It’s a shame because we put a lot of heart, passion and work into this game. We threw everything in. I saw a lot of positive things,” said Voss-Tecklenburg after the first defeat at the Arnold Clark Cup. As in the 1-1 draw against Spain, the DFB women proved in Norwich that they can keep up with world-class teams.
Tournament as an important test for EM
For the record European champion and two-time world champion, the four-nation tournament is an important test for the European Championship in July, also in England. The German players played their last major tournament in 2019 at the World Cup when they lost to Sweden in the quarter-finals and thus missed out on participating in the Olympics in Tokyo.
Voss-Tecklenburg gave special praise to Frankfurt striker Nicole Anyomi. The 22-year-old “did it really, really well. She’s a win for us”. This also applies to Hoffenheim’s defender Jana Feldkampf “with her calmness, with her moments of transition”. The only goal of the evening was scored by Canada in front of just 200 spectators at Carrow Road Stadium by Vanessa Gilles (7th minute).
It was the German team’s first defeat since the 1-0 loss to France last April. In the third and last game, the DFB women meet hosts England on Wednesday (8.30 p.m. / ZDF live stream) in Wolverhampton.