Norwich (dpa) – The German soccer players lost out to Canada at the European Championship test tournament in England. The team of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg lost 0: 1 (0: 1) in Norwich in the duel between the Olympic champions from 2016 and 2021 on Sunday evening in Norwich.
In front of just 200 spectators at the Carrow Road Stadium, Vanessa Gilles (7th minute) scored for the gold medal winners from Tokyo against a passionate but weakened German national team.
It was the German team’s first defeat since the 1-0 loss to France last April. “It’s a shame because we put a lot of heart, passion and work into this game,” said the national coach – but she wasn’t dissatisfied: “I saw a lot of positive things.”
Caught cold
The rejuvenated DFB selection, which already had to do without 14 European Championship candidates at the Arnold Clark Cup due to corona or injury, started with a significantly different starting eleven compared to the 1-1 win against Spain. So Ann-Katrin Berger was in goal instead of regular keeper Merle Frohms (Eintracht Frankfurt). The 31-year-old from Chelsea and the men in front were caught cold after just a few minutes in the wind and rain when Gilles headed in from a corner to make it 1-0.
Defense chief Lena Oberdorf from VfL Wolfsburg had to watch from the stands because of slight knee problems. Voss-Tecklenburg had changed to seven positions. So their players initially showed major coordination problems and many ball losses. They were unlucky when a shot by FC Bayern captain Lina Magull was blocked by the hand of goalscorer Gilles, but there was no penalty (20′).
Only after a good half hour did the attack by Hoffenheim’s Jule Brand and Munich’s Klara Bühl come into play better. Canada keeper Kailen Sheridan was wary of a dangerous flick from Bühl (41′).
After the break, goalscorer Lea Schüller from FC Bayern, who scored her 24th goal in 35 international matches against Spain, came on. Goalkeeper Berger was lucky when she pushed the attacking Nichelle Prince to the ground, but this had no consequences (52′). Otherwise, the German team recorded much more game shares than in the first round, but remained without fortune in the end.
In the third and last game, the DFB women meet hosts England on Wednesday (8.30 p.m. / ZDF live stream) in Wolverhampton. The test tournament is considered an important location for the European Championships in July, also in England.