DFB women under massive pressure
The Popp failure follows the Voss-Tecklenburg Theater
October 26, 2023, 6:23 p.m
Although she is currently taking a break, national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg is omnipresent ahead of the German footballers’ groundbreaking Nations League games. Interim coach Horst Hrubesch also has to compensate for the loss of captain Alexandra Popp. There are also changes in the goal.
The unprecedented farce surrounding Martina Voss-Tecklenburg is new territory even for the storm-tested Horst Hrubesch, and now captain Alexandra Popp is also out. More than ever, the interim national coach is in demand in his key role as a rock in the surf so that the German footballers don’t screw up their Olympic qualification after the World Cup debacle.
“I have two games that I have to win. Everything else was not an issue for me here,” assured the 72-year-old before the Nations League games on Friday (5.45 p.m./ARD and in the live ticker at ntv.de) in Sinsheim against Wales and on Tuesday (8 p.m./zdfsport.de) on Iceland, which Popp will miss at short notice due to muscular problems.
In a turbulent week, this news was the next setback. Given the looming mudslinging between “MVT” and the German Football Association, it’s difficult to concentrate anyway. Communication between both sides now takes place via lawyers. The possibly final joint conversation is expected to take place next week. “Promptly” after the end of the vacation of the previously ill former national coach, whose contract the DFB had extended until 2025 before the World Cup. It could be expensive for the cash-strapped association.
Change in goal
The team has largely distanced itself from Voss-Tecklenburg after obvious dissonances surrounding the World Cup. “The only thing that counts for us at the moment is sporting success. Accordingly, we try to ignore everything that is happening around us,” said Sara Doorsoun in a Sky interview. After the 2-0 opening defeat under assistant coach Britta Carlson in Denmark in September, the European vice-champions are “in a very serious situation,” emphasized Linda Dallmann. A 4-0 win against Iceland followed, but only as group winner does the 2016 Olympic champion still have a chance of winning one of two tickets for Paris 2024.
So until the second leg against league leaders Denmark (December 1st), only wins count – and as many goals as possible for the direct comparison. Popp’s loss cannot be compensated for “100 percent”, but it can be compensated for, said Hrubesch, who could rely on Lea Schüller up front. Ann-Katrin Berger will be in goal against Wales. The 33-year-old replaces regular goalkeeper Merle Frohms, who is out after suffering a concussion.
The emergency helper stepped into the breach with the DFB women for the second time since 2018 – his recipe: “We have to pick up the pace. We have to play with less contact.” The plan seems to be working. “I already have a feeling of a new start,” assured Dallmann. You can tell the team is “extremely relaxed” before the duel with the pointless bottom of Group A3.
Hrubesch, who led the German men to Olympic silver in 2016, told the players that if necessary he would run to France “to see us play if we don’t take him with us,” said Dallmann with a smile: “He’s dying to do it.” The way the 1980 European champion talks about the Summer Games is also meaningful for Voss-Tecklenburg. “If Paris doesn’t work out – which I don’t believe – someone new would have to come along and rebuild everything. That’s not me,” Hrubesch told “Sport Bild”. If the qualification is successful, he will be ready to talk about the tournament.