After the defeat against France, the DFB women’s Olympic dream is in danger of bursting. But the team still has one option. It’s about everything.
Paris will have to wait for the time being: With its defeat against France, the German women’s national team has lost its first match point in the fight for the Olympic ticket for the French capital next summer. After a hectic opening phase, national coach Horst Hrubesch’s team collapsed shortly before half-time and conceded two goals.
The DFB team missed the hoped-for turnaround after the restart. Despite the glimmer of hope from full-back Giulia Gwinn’s penalty, in the end the score remained 1-2 from the DFB’s perspective. Almost seven months after the World Cup debacle, Germany now has to fear for its chance to make amends.
In order to make the dream of the Olympics come true, the DFB women need a win in the game for third place next Wednesday against the Netherlands. The substitutes from the France game are particularly hopeful.
Wolfsburg’s Jule Brand and Bayern’s Sydney Lohmann were particularly convincing. After being substituted in the second half, they brought a breath of fresh air into the game, pulling their teammates Alexandra Popp and Klara Bühl forward with them – they created chances. The many mistakes in the first half that Gwinn spoke about after the game decreased and the team played more courageously.
Dangerous opponents in the “small final”
The second team achieved significantly more success than before with the double leadership around Popp and Schüller, which is therefore likely to be put on ice against the Netherlands for the time being. Surprising: Hrubesch only made three changes against France, five would have been possible. With Linda Dallmann, debutant Vivien Endemann, Laura Freigang and Elisa Senß, the national coach still has a few options in attack that have so far remained unused, but could give the team in Heerenveen a new boost.
There the DFB selection meets their table neighbors in the FIFA world rankings (from 8:45 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online). While Germany is in sixth place, the Dutch are one place below.
At the same time, the “Leeuwinnen” lost 3-0 against the world champions from Spain in the second semi-final. In the new edition of the World Cup quarter-finals, they barely got in front of the opponent’s goal and were overrun by the Spanish offensive. Now they too are playing in the “small final” for the Olympic ticket.
A duel on equal terms? DFB star Klara Bühl said about the upcoming opponents in the mixed zone on Friday evening: “They are incredibly good, have an individual class and are also very athletic. This makes them a team that plays forward quickly, wants to score goals and is there We have to be there.” Captain Popp added: “It must be clear to us that we have to give it our all from the first to the last minute.”
Germany has emerged victorious four times in the last six duels. Nevertheless, the Netherlands should not be underestimated. The team of ex-Bundesliga coach Andries Jonker has recently come up trumps. They made it to the quarterfinals at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. In the Nations League they also won the group ahead of European champions England. The game for third place and thus the fight for the ticket to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris promises to be a very exciting duel.
It’s about everything – including for the coach
Germany last qualified for the Summer Games in Brazil in 2016. In the final, the soccer players beat Sweden (2:1) and surprisingly won the gold medal. Popp was there at the time. Another participation and the chance of a medal should motivate the captain to the tips of her hair.