On the way to the World Cup, the German Vice European Champions first have to find each other again.
The 1:2 in the friendly against Brazil 100 days before the tournament kicks off in Australia and New Zealand has made the German soccer players and national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg quite thoughtful. “We’re still aware of what we’re capable of. We just have to get that back on the pitch. It’s just a bit wormy right now,” said captain Alexandra Popp before leaving Nuremberg.
The DFB women don’t have much time to come to terms with the situation: the national players from FC Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg will meet in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup on Saturday. And for the German champions from Lower Saxony, the next Sunday is the Champions League cracker against Arsenal WFC. It was not until June 20th that Voss-Tecklenburg got their team together again for the first of two World Cup preparations in Herzogenaurach with two home international matches against opponents who have not yet been named.
“It’s not right to worry in principle,” emphasized the 55-year-old. And yet many a player felt reminded of the past year: the German selection emerged victorious from the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February and surprisingly botched the World Cup qualifier in Serbia in April. The ARD documentary “Born for this – more than football” showed afterwards how painful and laborious the process was before the team soared to the heights of the European Championship. Sometimes there was a quarrel between the team and the national coach, until everyone came together.
“We have been warned”
“We are warned that we won’t win games at that level with 80 or 90 percent,” said Voss-Tecklenburg. Especially since the result was just as flattering as in the other two endurance tests this year against Sweden (0-0) and in the Netherlands (1-0). However, the trainer did not want to be carried away by emotions and wanted to take her time to watch the recording of the instructive performance against the South American champions.
“We don’t go out there with the best of feelings. We shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes,” warned Sydney Lohmann from Munich, still one of the best on the pitch, and added: “We are Germany, we are runners-up European champions – we should also appear with that self-confidence.” The lack of pass accuracy, the often poor duel behavior and the few offensive actions spoke to almost everyone. According to Lohmann, Brazil also showed “the kind of toughness we can expect at the World Cup. That’s international toughness.”
Lena Oberdorf spoke plainly, who, as a clearer in midfield, could hardly keep up with work in front of 32,587 spectators. “If we play like that, we won’t get far at the World Cup,” warned the Wolfsburg native. A promising red banner hung across the opposite grandstand in the Max Morlock Stadium: “A new goal – a great opportunity – to the 2023 World Cup in Australia.” At the World Cup, the German team could see Brazil again in the round of 16. In the preliminary round it is against Morocco, Colombia and South Korea.
“Of course we won’t be going home in a very good mood,” said Popp, who, to make matters worse, suffered a foot injury. But: “I still have memories of the stupid final game from last year, so I see it positively in the direction of the World Cup.” The EM star didn’t want to know anything about a memo: “That’s a bit too much for me. We are aware that the way we played today won’t be enough at the World Cup. But we still have a little time.”
