DFB women in tournament without a win
Magull’s dream goal does not prevent last place
02/24/2022 06:26 am
The DFB-Elf are missing more than a dozen European Championship candidates, but they still do well in the four-nation tournament in England. However, it is not enough to win against hosts England. Goal scorer Lina Magull sees this primarily as a job.
The German soccer players had to put up with a damper at the end of the European Championship preview in England. The weakened team of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg lost to the hosts in the classic in Wolverhampton 1: 3 (1: 1) and ended the tournament behind England, Spain and Canada in fourth and last place – but gained valuable insights.
In an intense encounter, Ellen White (15′), Millie Bright (84′) and Fran Kirby (90’+4′) scored to win the tournament for England, while Lina Magull (41′) equalized with a free kick worth seeing. After beating Spain 1-1 and losing 1-0 to Olympic champions Canada, Germany ended the four-nation tournament without a win.
“We’re already disappointed because the result didn’t match the course of the game. It could have ended differently,” said Magull. “We could have just as easily won. We had good chances to score one, two or three more goals. The English were a bit more ripped off today.” That was “annoying, but the tournament just shows us again what we have to work on, that we still have a lot of potential”.
As against Canada, Lena Oberdorf (VfL Wolfsburg) was rested because of minor knee problems. Voss-Tecklenburg changed their starting XI to a total of five positions, including Merle Frohms (Eintracht Frankfurt), the regular number one, who replaced Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea FC) in goal. Lea Schüller, who had scored the only goal for the DFB women to date in the opening game against Spain, began the late equalizer to make it 1-1 in the center of the attack. The Germans lost 1-0 to Olympic champions Canada. The DFB team, which is currently missing 14 European Championship candidates, started well.
German selection is too timid
England got off to a better start at Molineux and quickly took control of the game. Only rarely, for example through Maximiliane Rall and Lina Magull, did the DFB team create dangerous chances in the first half hour. However, Rall played the ball straight into Roebuck’s arms, Magull fired wide to the right of the goal after the English goalkeeper missed a pass.
But as in the two games before, the German selection, which was tentative at times, fell behind. Without much resistance, the Lionesses played their way into the penalty area, where record goalscorer White shot freely behind Sophia Kleinherne and didn’t give Frohms a chance with an outside instep. The hosts now dominated the action, but the record European champions didn’t give up despite problems with the English attacking pressing. A stationary ball equalized: Bayern captain Magull circled a free kick from about 18 meters over the wall, and the ball bounced off the underside of the crossbar into the goal.
A similar picture emerged in the second half. The fans created a good atmosphere, the intensity remained high, but the pace of the game slowed down – until the decision was made in the final minutes. After Germany had played their first two games in Middlesbrough and Norwich in front of almost empty stands, the spectators in Wolverhampton ensured a good mood. They loudly cheered every attack by the English women. In between, Neil Young’s hit song “Sweet Caroline” echoed through the Molineux Stadium. A little mood test for the European Championships taking place in England in July.
The DFB women will play their next game in the World Cup qualifier on April 9 in Bielefeld against Portugal. Then it’s off to the hot phase before the title hunt at the European Championships in the mother country of football (July 6th to 31st).