Match winner Paulina Krumbiegel beamed like her excited teammates and could hardly believe her luck.
“I have to process it all first. I couldn’t have imagined it any better: to play at all and then to help the team win is just a really great feeling,” said the Hoffenheim native after her 2-1 win for them German soccer players in a spectacular and extremely entertaining test match against the world champions from the USA. In front of 16,917 spectators in Fort Lauderdale, the European runners-up champions showed on the German night that they are not only among the best in Europe, but also in the world.
National coach: “A good step for us”
According to Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, the DFB women in a game with “a lot, a lot of speed” brought the Americans their first home defeat after 71 games and won against the current number one in the FIFA world rankings for the first time in 16 years. “It’s a good step for us,” said the national coach, visibly proud. The passionate duel between the four-time and two-time world champions gave her a lot of insights in preparation for the World Cup from July 20 to August 20, 2023 in Australia and New Zealand, where the German team will meet Morocco, Colombia and South Korea in the preliminary round .
For example, that substitute midfielder Krumbiegel is a strong alternative. The 22-year-old suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in August 2021 and missed the European Championship. “Paulina has been built up very, very well at the club. They did it very carefully,” said Voss-Tecklenburg. “I think Pauli did it very, very well in both directions. She had good game intelligence, good composure, was active in attack and defence.”
Before the break, the Germans around captain Alexandra Popp were very lucky when the Americans ran on – and also when they scored the opening goal afterwards: the ball bounced off the back of goalkeeper Casey Murphy after a shot by Klara Bühl (51st minute). In the intensive exchange of blows, the 37-year-old US star Megan Rapinoe equalized in the 85th minute, but Krumbiegel, who had also come on as a substitute, made it 2-1 (89th).
Goalkeeper Merle Frohms strong again
“In the first half we were a bit impressed and had a lot of uncertainties,” admitted the strong goalkeeper Merle Frohms after the final whistle. “We learned a lot from players who don’t play at this level that often. The pace was enormous, it went back and forth at the beginning. I really thought: Wow! If everyone wants to keep going, then that’s really a house number “said Voss-Tecklenburg.
Attacker Laura Freigang also embodied what the Frankfurt woman later said about her team: “There was a lot of will behind it. It wasn’t easy at all today, but we always give everything. And even if things don’t always go the way we want, let’s move on.” On Sunday (11:08 p.m. CET/sportschau.de) the DFB women can also prepare themselves for fierce resistance from the US team, which had already lost games in England and Spain in October: there is revenge in Harrison / New Jersey .
