For the German soccer players in the first home game after the European Championship against France (8.30 p.m. / ARD) it is about more than just inspiring the audience. However, Giulia Gwinn’s injury has dampened the mood.
The Semperoper has been visited, tea lights in the Frauenkirche have been lit: the tourist program for the international match of the German women’s national team against France in Dresden was important to national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg because she considered the venue to be “special city” looks, from which their team in the first home game after the European Championships in England too “cultural what to take away”.
Expanding horizons. And if footballers can learn something, the 54-year-old thinks it is in the theater or in the orchestra, where many of the protagonists have to be well coordinated in order to present a harmonious picture.
That is exactly what should happen in the metropolis on the Elbe, where the DFB women want to inspire their significantly larger fan base from the carefree summer in the London area. More than 25,000 tickets have been sold for the new edition of the EM semifinals in the Rudolf Harbig Stadium. The live transmission at prime time should also attract millions of viewers to the television. This fulfills central demands that the EM heroines had raised.
Four supports of the EM are missing
But not everyone gets to see the audience again, because with Marina Hegering (foot injury), Sara Däbritz (ankle), Lina Magull (corona infection) and Giulia Gwinn (suspected cruciate ligament rupture), four top performers are missing. Voss-Tecklenburg was particularly hurt by the training accident on Wednesday involving defender Gwinn, who was in such good shape and one of the best players in the European Championship.not unreservedly happy” could, as the national coach revealed on Thursday, visibly concerned. FC Bayern will transmit the exact diagnosis, it said. The 23-year-old suffered a cruciate ligament tear in 2020.
The absences offer opportunities for players who would have liked to have played much more often in England. Just like Linda Dallman. The 28-year-old came on five times as a substitute at the European Championships, the midfielder from FC Bayern replaced her team-mate Magull four times and Däbritz once. When she was in the starting eleven in the (sportingly meaningless) group game against Finland (3-0), the noble technician promptly accepted the award for player of the match. Now she says: “Of course, I would also like to earn my regular place here. That is my claim.“
Two friendlies against the USA in November
“We have potential and can still take further steps”, says Voss-Tecklenburg with a view to the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. On the one hand, she wants to be the starting eleven “solidify things”on the other hand increased “Young players at top level” testing. Linking both strands together will be a fine art. Voss-Tecklenburg named players such as Sjoeke Nüsken and Nicole Anyomi (both Eintracht Frankfurt) or Jule Brand and Lena Lattwein (both VfL Wolfsburg) to the sports show, who should develop this season.
Best at top level. This is helped by top-class testing opportunities that bring more insights than joyless qualifying games. That’s why next month’s trip to the USA is important, where the DFB-Elf first in Fort Lauderdale/Florida and then in Harrison/New Jersey against the world champions (November 11th and 13th). Further comparisons against top opponents are being prepared for spring next year – maybe there will be a duel against European champions England, then on German soil. The wave can only be ridden at the top level.
The competition has flared up
Voss-Tecklenburg is pleased that open competition is already breaking out. The final against England (1:2 after extra time) was also lost because the followers were not strong enough. Ironically, captain and goalscorer Alexandra Popp, who had brought Germany through the hard-fought semi-finals against France (2-1) in Milton Keynes with a brace, dropped out at short notice with a muscle injury, Klara Bühl had tested positive for Corona, Lea Schüller had the same illness just survived.
Despite all the talent, Jule Brand could not prevail in the final and Tabea Waßmuth, who came on as a substitute, could not close this gap either. Anyomi also had a bad day as a substitute. Voss-Tecklenburg himself knows that it was a mistake not to substitute Laura Freigang, the last healthy attacker. In this case, the planning games from the coaching team didn’t work out, after almost everything worked at the push of a button.
The dream is the World Cup final next summer in Sydney
The squad should improve in width by next summer. “For us, the preparation for the tournament begins now”says the national coach: “The start against a world-class opponent like France in front of a great crowd is ideal for that.”
Exactly such games are for further development “extreme important”, also clarifies Popp. Then: “We already know where we want to go. We want to be successful at the World Cup next year.” The dream: On August 20, 2023, in the Australia Stadium in Sydney, the goal is to succeed in the World Cup final that failed on July 31 in the European Championship final.