World Cup debacle, coaching chaos, communication breakdowns: the year 2023 is going totally bad for the DFB women after the exciting high a year earlier. At least they get away with a black eye, the dream of the Olympics is alive. But it is accompanied by numerous major tasks.
Dancing on the grass, bright eyes and big grins, goals for the euphoria. Just a few days later: nothing more of it. The start of the World Cup with a 6-0 win against Morocco was followed by their first elimination from the group stage. The decisive 3-0 in the Nations League against Denmark was followed by the meager 0-0 against Wales. The DFB women are having a year full of contrasts. At the end of the year they get away with a black eye.
Their own strength was waning, their eyes were anxiously focused on the parallel game – there was almost a sense of déjà vu for the DFB women on December 4th. A dramatic, groundbreaking one right in the middle of a dead end. Tournament knockout, the second in four months. The World Cup debacle is followed by the premature cancellation of the Olympics. But that was narrowly averted and the dream of taking part in the Olympic Games in Paris is alive.
The DFB team has to thank Iceland, who won the last game against Denmark in the Nations League and thus ensured that Germany’s once again shockingly weak 0-0 draw in Wales was enough for the DFB to win the group. The national team can therefore play in the final tournament for a ticket to Paris. The team of interim coach Horst Hrubesch had shown its shining face against Denmark just three days earlier and decisively overtook its rivals in the table with a 3-0 win to book the final tournament.
In the summer the same situation ended differently. At the World Cup in Australia, Germany only played 1-1 in the third group game against South Korea. Since Morocco won in the parallel game against Colombia, then national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s team was eliminated from the World Cup group phase for the first time. And this at a time when attention has never been greater. The European Championship euphoria from the previous year sparked so many promises. Instead: disappointment. On all sides.
Team with two faces
A lot has happened since then, especially off the pitch. Voss-Tecklenburg is exhausted, can no longer work, and takes sick leave. Her departure follows a communication debacle on the part of the association and her personally, appearances as a speaker during a hitherto unknown vacation after taking sick leave, disappointment and resistance from players, rumors about internal strife including within the coaching team and favoritism or ignoring of players. In the midst of all the chaos, savior Hrubesch is appearing for the DFB women for the second time after 2018. In December, Nia Künzer will be appointed to the new post of sports director for women’s football, while long-serving Joti Chatzialexiou will step down.
And on the lawn? Hrubesch at least partially manages the sporting turnaround. The players are enthusiastic about the 72-year-old, who has kept in touch with many of them since his first appearance. In terms of football, games with enthusiasm alternate with lame performances. Is the team as good as against Denmark or as bad as against Wales? The two faces are worrying, but they are not only visible in the national team.
Two international tournaments in two consecutive years, plus the Wolfsburg women making it to the final of the Champions League – these are exhausting seasons. This can currently be seen in the Lower Saxony team, who did not make it through the qualification for this year’s Champions League season, who are not nearly as dominant as usual, where sixth player Lena Oberdorf, for example, pays tribute to many little problems and most recently not at all for the DFB squad can be nominated.
After all, there is a slight upward trend in the DFB team under Hrubesch. At the end of the year, the minimum goal is to participate in the final tournament at the end of February. Also because luck is kind to the team this time.
Lucky draw France
This is also evident in the draw for the finals, the wish of the semi-final game against France comes true. If the neighboring country, which is set to host the Summer Games, makes it to the final, the third-placed team in Paris would also be there. That’s why Hrubesch’s hopes rested on France as an opponent. “If something goes wrong, we have a second option.” The only flaw: The DFB team has to play away on February 23rd, and there will be no home game in the final or third place game on February 28th.
“France are a seasoned and mature team that will demand a lot from us,” said Hrubesch. And yet the fate is accompanied by a good omen. The DFB women have never lost to France at the World or European Championships. At the 2022 European Championships, which went so brilliantly, the team defeated the French women 2-1 in the semi-finals thanks to two goals from captain Alexandra Popp, and just ten weeks later there was another 2-1 victory in the friendly match.
The team will compete in France with Hrubesch on the sidelines, and he will also be at the Olympic Games if they qualify, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf confirmed this in mid-December. But the interim solution has been sewn up, Hrubesch is only with the DFB because his actual employer, where he is a youth coordinator, has a lot of patience. This cannot be exhausted forever. And so the search for a successor is underway, now with the active help of ex-world champion Künzer, who, as a counterpart to Rudi Völler, should and wants to set the course for a successful future for men. “It is crucial that the focus now is not just on the Olympic Games, but also that strategic decisions are made on the way to the 2025 European Championship in Switzerland. This must now be addressed promptly,” she said before taking office at the dpa. The European Championship qualification starts directly after the Olympic Games.
Coach doesn’t impose himself
Who will be the successor to Voss-Tecklenburg and Hrubesch is of course extremely important. While numerous men’s personal details were circulating as rumors before Julian Nagelsmann’s appointment, the situation is different for women. The group of candidates is small and coaches are underrepresented in comparison. Will there be a German solution or will an international representative come?
Ex-national player Inka Grings, who left Switzerland as coach after the World Cup, has already put herself in position: “I’m German, live in Germany and have the ‘German mentality’ in me. It’s certainly a very demanding job, but also one of the most interesting positions ever,” she told T-Online. In 14 international matches under her direction, the Swiss, who had also previously coached Voss-Tecklenburg, only managed one victory. The DFB can probably only dream of top international greats like Europe’s coach of the year, Sarina Wiegmann, who reached two finals in a row with England and previously became European champions with her home country Netherlands. She is even linked to England’s men’s national team.
But with the coaching question, the Olympic qualification and the preparation for the European Championships, it’s still not enough. Together with Belgium and the Netherlands, Germany is applying to host the 2027 World Cup. Another project that is keeping the DFB very busy. The competition is fierce: Mexico and the USA want to host the women just one year after the men, and Brazil is also making demands. There is no favorite. For Germany it would be the next Women’s World Cup after 2011. At the same time, Künzer also has to get the last unfortunate communication back on track. After the World Cup debacle, Neuendorf Voss-Tecklenburg had given Voss-Tecklenburg a job guarantee, but this had to be withdrawn. The differences between the team and coaches during the World Cup and in the training camp beforehand are said to have caught the association bosses off guard too late.
There are big tasks to be tackled. For the players on the pitch and for everyone responsible off the pitch. Everyone is stumbling out of this crisis year with a black eye. Final knockout or triumphant comeback? The fight for the Olympic ticket is likely to be groundbreaking for everything that comes next.