Martina Voss-Tecklenburg high-fived her players, but seemed pretty pissed off. Despite the victory against Vietnam, the national soccer coach was not satisfied.
The basics were missing in many areas, the 55-year-old complained with a serious expression after the 2-1 (1-0) win on ZDF. “We didn’t have access”, there weren’t enough chances. “There is still a lot to do in all areas, a lot to do.”
Exactly one month before the DFB-Elf’s opening game at the World Cup in Australia, little was achieved, probably also because Voss-Tecklenburg had given up many potential regular players. “It was certainly a bit thrown together,” she said of her starting lineup – and the state of preparation: “We’re maybe 40 percent, we have three space units.”
In front of 13,652 fans, the national coach used many players from the second row. Without captain Alexandra Popp, Paulina Krumbiegel scored in the third minute on the Bieberer Berg to make it 1-0. Janina Minge from SC Freiburg made it 2-0 with her first international goal (80′). In added time, however, the Vietnamese even scored the goal through Thi Thanh Nha Nguyen (90. 3).
“In the end we’re happy about the win,” said Krumbiegel, “but we also saw that we still have a lot of work to do before the World Cup.” There is still a lot to be done. “I think it’s anchored in people’s heads a bit,” said the 22-year-old about the competitive situation in the team. Some of the players from the second row still have to fight for their World Cup ticket.
FC Bayern players were missing
In goalkeeper Merle Frohms and Lena Lattwein, Voss-Tecklenburg only had two Wolfsburg players in the starting XI and – as announced – no Bayern players. After the dispute between the DFB and the Munich club about their later arrival, the national coach “didn’t want to take any risks” because the Bayern aces around Lena Magull and Lea Schüller only joined the national team on Friday after their vacation.
Popp was also rested: The Hoffenheim striker Melissa Kössler made her debut in the selection for the European Championship star from VfL Wolfsburg, but was unable to convert any of her chances. Especially for wobbly candidates like her, it was a great opportunity to qualify for a World Cup. After the last friendly against Zambia on July 7 (8:30 p.m./ARD) in Fürth, Voss-Tecklenburg will name their 23-man squad for the World Cup. Before that, it goes to the second training camp in Herzogenaurach.
As with her winning goal in the 2-1 win against world champions USA in November, Krumbiegel excelled as a goalscorer: The Hoffenheim native extended a cross from Nicole Anyomi into the net with a back-heel right at the start. But those who had hoped for more goals in the first round were disappointed. The game went pretty well past Frankfurt’s Laura Freigang with number 10 in particular.
After the break, Chelsea pro Melanie Leupolz, who had become the mother of a boy last year, came in for midfield. But she also found hardly any gaps to the front. Freigang put the ball past the left post shortly after the change – otherwise the German selection continued to struggle. Before and after Minges 2-0, the Asians even missed two big chances before they were allowed to celebrate.
However, Voss-Tecklenburg still has time to form their tournament team. The departure for the World Cup is on July 11th and the first group game against Morocco is on July 24th. Colombia and South Korea are the other preliminary round opponents of the DFB players on the way to the hoped-for third World Cup title after 2003 and 2007.
