DFB captain Alexandra Popp does not want to make a quick decision about her future in the women’s national team after the early World Cup failure.
“Those thoughts are very far away right now because I’m far too concerned about dropping out of the group stage,” said the 32-year-old in Brisbane. “Everyone needs time to come to terms with themselves,” added Popp. The selection of the German Football Association was eliminated for the first time in the preliminary round of a World Cup on Thursday.
After the final defeat at the European Championships last year, top scorer Popp left open for a long time whether she would continue her career in the national team. At the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the attacker scored four goals in three group games, but was unable to avoid being eliminated.
Popp continues to hope for interest from German fans
Before making any fundamental decisions, you have to concede to the team, “that we now simply need the time to analyze exactly that, so that we can then clearly see what was missing, what was the reason,” warned Popp. After beating Morocco 6-0 and losing 2-1 against Colombia, a 1-1 draw against outsiders South Korea was not enough to qualify for the round of 16.
Each of her colleagues is dealing with the disappointment of failure in their own way, said Popp. Some players retired to their rooms alone on Friday night. “Some needed their family or their friends,” Popp said of the scenes in the team hotel. “Not every player can say overnight that I’m fine again.”
Despite the setback at the World Cup, Popp hopes that the German fans will not lose interest in women’s football again a year after the EM success. “But the development over the whole year was so beautiful to look at, so immense and so extremely important for the sport that I hope it stays that way,” said the VfL Wolfsburg striker.
