Middlesbrough (dpa) – The German soccer players defied the many failures at the start of the EM year and put on a fearless performance against Spain.
At the start of the Arnold Clark Cup, the young DFB selection in Middlesbrough won a 1-1 (0-1) against the team around Alexia Putellas. The world footballer from FC Barcelona scored the lead for the European title contenders in the practically empty Riverside Stadium (46th minute), Lea Schüller from FC Bayern equalized in the 88th minute.
“I think we played a good first half. Spain then made it very, very difficult for us,” said national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg and praised her goalkeeper, among other things: “I think we saw a very strong Merle Frohms today . We still wanted to force this 1:1. This mentality and a bit of aggressiveness helped us. We take a lot with us today.”
Fire conspicuous
After an initial offensive by the Spaniards, who had nine professionals from Champion League winners FC Barcelona in their starting XI, the Germans made some promising attacks. Munich’s Klara Bühl missed a pass from Jule Brand after 15 minutes. The 19-year-old winger, who this week announced her move from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim to VfL Wolfsburg for the new season, was one of the most conspicuous in the DFB team.
In the 34th minute, a shot by Lucia Garcia went wide of goalkeeper Merle Frohms. Practically in return, Schüller missed the 1-0 for Germany with a flick. Spain is considered the up-and-coming nation in women’s football and is Germany’s preliminary round opponent at the European Championships in England in July alongside Denmark and Finland. Voss-Tecklenburg missed 14 EM candidates injured or corona-related in the endurance test.
The only 20-year-old from Munich, Lena Oberdorf, initially organized the DFB defense against the strong Spaniards with confidence. Seconds after the break, however, she caused Putellas to go behind with an involuntary assist: Frankfurt’s Frohms between the posts could no longer save. “A blow to the neck,” said Voss-Tecklenburg later.
Important location determination
After that, the 2016 Olympic champions struggled and got into trouble again and again. There were largely no relieving attacks – apart from Lina Magull’s big chance on a pass from Schüller (72′). Frohms deflected another ball from Garcia to the crossbar before Schüller scored her 24th goal in her 35th international match.
For the German team, the Arnold Clark Cup is an important location for the European Championship. On Sunday (9.15 p.m. / ARD live stream) it continues in Norwich against Olympic champion Canada. England is the third opponent of the four-nation tournament in Wolverhampton next Wednesday (8.30 p.m. / ZDF live stream).