Bundestrainer Martina Voss-Tecklenburg stood at the edge of the field shaking her head, the German soccer players looked at each other helplessly and disappointedly at the end. Completely surprisingly, the DFB women got out of step in the World Cup qualifier and suffered their first defeat after a poor performance in Serbia. With the 2: 3 (0: 1) on Tuesday in Stara Pazova, the team of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg missed out on qualifying for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023.
“We have to take a good look at that. In principle, it was simply not enough, both defensively and offensively,” admitted captain Alexandra Popp. “It just didn’t work – whether it was the quality of the pass, whether it was the duels, the game going forward or the game going backwards defensively.” DFB women. In addition, Allegra Polljak (36th) scored for the hosts. The 25th international goal by Munich’s Lea Schüller (60th) and Tabea Waßmuth’s goal in injury time (90th + 2) were not enough for the favorites.
In front of only about 400 spectators, the record European champion repeatedly wobbled in defense. So instead of the eighth win in the eighth game on the way to the World Cup, there was a severe setback – and that almost three months before the European Championship in England. Before their final games in Turkey and Bulgaria in September, the DFB selection leads in Group H with three points ahead of Serbia and has the significantly better goal difference. Only the first in the table qualifies directly, the second has to go to the play-offs.
Popp saves for Frohms
Even more clearly than the 5-1 in the first leg in Chemnitz, the German selection revealed major starting problems. Captain Alexandra Popp from VfL Wolfsburg was back in the starting eleven for the first time since her long injury break, having recently come on as a wild card in the 3-0 win over Portugal. After 20 minutes she had to save on the goal line for the defeated keeper Merle Frohms – and could hardly set any accents in front. Frohms from Frankfurt played in place of Almuth Schult from VfL Wolfsburg, who was supposed to make her comeback in the national jersey after almost three years but had to leave because of a shoulder strain.
Munich’s Giulia Gwinn missed the guests’ first chance with a ball on the outside of the post (27′). But the Serbs were rewarded for their strong first half with a 1-0 header through the unguarded Poljak. Shortly thereafter, Lina Magull hit the crossbar on the other side, otherwise the DFB women had almost nothing to offer on the offensive. And the uncertainties remained behind: After a botched back pass from Gwinn, Poljak shot the post.
After the break, Voss-Tecklenburg brought on playmaker Dzsenifer Marozsan from Olympique Lyon and Wolfsburg striker Waßmuth. Damnjanovic quickly dashed hopes of a turnaround after Schüller’s goal with her second goal.
For the German selection, the focus is now on preparing for the European Championships in July: On May 16, Voss-Tecklenburg will announce their extended squad of 28 for England in Frankfurt am Main. After a test match on June 24, this should be reduced to 23 players. The preliminary round opponents of the record European champions in the demanding Group B are Denmark, Spain and Finland.
