Germany failed in the quarter-finals in 2017 with the team led by former Wolfsburg player Pernille Harder – at that time still under national coach Steffi Jones. A defeat against Denmark would put the 2016 Olympic champions and 2003 and 2007 world champions under enormous pressure in the second group match against title contenders Spain (12 July). Outsider Finland is the last preliminary round opponent on July 16th. In the quarter-finals, there is a risk of a knockout game against hosts England, who opened the European Championship on Wednesday in a sold-out Old Trafford in Manchester with a game against Austria.
The mission: Back to the top of the world
As a player, Voss-Tecklenburg took part in four European Championship triumphs – but she doesn’t want to know much about it anymore. “Without wanting to belittle the achievements of previous years: the level is tactically, technically, athletically much higher,” said the 54-year-old in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” on the current status of the world class, where Germany is not yet again, but again says: “That’s our job, and I’d like to win the DFB title as a coach. But it’s gotten more difficult and many people haven’t realized it yet.”
Voss-Tecklenburg basically had three years to prepare her team for the tournament in England after the bitter World Cup quarter-finals in 2019 against Sweden and the missed Olympic participation. Neuendorf visited the DFB women in one of their two training camps in Herzogenaurach and got “a great impression”. He didn’t have the feeling that there was a problem somewhere in the preparation: “That’s the best prerequisite for doing very well. I trust them.”
The national coach fears that many would expect German soccer players to have to win every tournament. “It’s important to me that it’s clear: It will be very close at this European Championship and it will also depend on the game and the little things. We will have cool opponents who can really do something,” said Voss-Tecklenburg.