EM in England: Schüller failure scares DFB women: “Play for Lea”

EM in England
Schüller failure scares DFB women: “Play for Lea”

Without goal guarantor Lea Schüller, the German soccer players have to contest the European Championship hit against Spain.

The positive corona test of the 24-year-old striker superimposed the preparation for the second group game of the team of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg and dampened the anticipation. Nevertheless, the DFB women want to continue advertising their sport at the long-awaited prime time – and take a giant step towards the quarter-finals. “Girls, I believe in you, you can do it,” Schüller wrote on Instagram.

“For us, that means first and foremost that we stand together as a team and play for Lea. It is important that Lea is doing well, »said Voss-Tecklenburg. “The attacker from FC Bayern Munich only feels mild symptoms. She was immediately isolated, »said the DFB before the game between the two title candidates on Tuesday (9 p.m. / ARD and DAZN) at the Brentford Community Stadium.

Sad goalscorer

Schüller himself expressed his consternation. “I don’t even know what to say about that,” wrote the goalscorer. “For two years I managed not to get it and to protect myself as best I could and I just hoped not to get it during or just before the EM.”

Schüller’s Bayern colleagues Lina Magull and Sydney Lohmann are also slightly injured, the use of the two midfielders is questionable. Schüller, like Magull, scored a goal in the inspiring 4-0 start against Denmark – and is actually seeded. The top scorer in the Bundesliga last season has scored 26 goals in 40 international matches so far. The first alternatives as strikers are captain Alexandra Popp from VfL Wolfsburg and Laura Freigang from Frankfurt.

After a long injury break due to cartilage damage, Popp only returned to the DFB team in April and had Corona in preparation. The 115-time national player celebrated her European Championship debut as a joker against Denmark and scored 4-0.

Pop confident

The German selection is wildly determined to land the next success against the many short pass artists from FC Barcelona. “We can approach the matter with great self-confidence. We showed the opponents that we are to be reckoned with, »said Popp.

Schüller equalized in the 1-1 draw against Spain in the Arnold Clark Cup in February – against a superior opponent. It was only much later that the Germans found the unity and strength that characterizes them at the moment. “We really have an extreme quality across the board, anyone could be in the starting XI,” said full-back Giulia Gwinn before Schüller’s failure.

Wolfsburg’s Svenja Huth, most recently captain for Popp, explained: “We used the time intensively to develop further. Germany has always had a good team structure, but now it’s very, very good and that can be the key to success.”

defensive required

France have now also recommended themselves as tournament favorites with a 5-1 win over Italy. Against Spain, the DFB selection will have a lot of defensive work to do. “They will challenge us very differently. We have to communicate a lot. We’re going into the next game with great will,” emphasized defense chief Marina Hegering.

As group leaders, the DFB women, who still meet Finland on Saturday, could also play their quarter-final game in the London district of Brentford and would not have to change quarters. And they could potentially avoid hosts England, Group A favourites.

Spain in top form

The Spanish team has been unbeaten in 24 games, didn’t concede a single goal in nine games in 2021, but has never won against Germany – and yet they go into the match at Brentford Community Stadium with a big handicap: missing on the way to the hoped-for first international title World footballer Alexia Putellas (torn cruciate ligament) and record goalscorer Jennifer Hermoso (internal ligament injury), who scored 45 goals in 91 games.

“It will be interesting to see whether Spain can actually compensate for the loss and what that means for the team during the tournament,” wrote substitute goalkeeper and Olympic champion Almuth Schult in her column for the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND)”: “It gets even worse for Alexia herself be. At 28, she is in the best footballing age, is the current superstar of her sport in Europe with 1.7 million followers on Instagram and wanted to show everyone how beautiful football can be. »

dpa