Before the German national team set off for the World Cup last week, national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg held talks. With a few players who wouldn’t be there. With many players who would certainly be there. And with Janina Minge.
She was also allowed to go to Australia. But maybe this tournament will be over for the 24-year-old from SC Freiburg before it has even really started. Minge is here in a special role that only exists because of special circumstances: she is a back-up so that she can be nominated in the event of a failure. Up to 24 hours before the first group game, an injured or ill player can be replaced with appropriate proof. It is still unclear whether this will be necessary.
The mood after the sobering 2:3 against Zambia a few days before the World Cup left was not only depressed because of the performance in the German team. But mainly because left-back Carolin Simon tore her cruciate ligament, defense chief Marina Hegering bruised her heel and midfielder Lena Oberdorf injured her thigh. All important players. That threw the planning upside down and brought Chantal Hagel as Simon’s replacement and Janina Minge tickets for the big trip.
How the Germans start the World Cup will ultimately depend on whether Hegering and Oberdorf are fit
Minge has gone through all the youth teams of the German Football Association (DFB) since the U15s, she has already been to European and World Cups. But never with the big ones. “Of course it’s a bit more professional and exciting,” she said this week in front of the team hotel in Wyong. That’s part of it for her now: Interviews in front of big cameras and many microphones, training with the best players, comprehensive support. “I’m just as happy to be the 24th player because I can experience everything and be with the team. These are experiences that I can take with me for the future,” said Minge.
How her next few weeks turn out depends more on others than on her. Hegering, for example, had not worked with the team until the opening of the World Cup on Thursday, but had ridden a bicycle on an ergometer. It was said that she was looked at from day to day. Oberdorf has been training on the grass again since Sunday, initially only individually, but obviously resilient again. Both would be set without injuries, especially Oberdorf on the six can hardly be replaced.
In an interview with Sportschau, however, Voss-Tecklenburg dampened expectations of a timely return: Hegering and Oberdorf are likely to be out of action against Morocco on Monday (10:30 a.m., ZDF). “It looks like we won’t be able to fall back on either of them in the first game,” said the 55-year-old on Thursday, adding: “We won’t succeed in everything. But we promise: we will see passion and intensity. We will go to and beyond our limits.”
Open detailed view
Are they fit in time for the opener against Morocco? There are still question marks behind the appearances of Lena Oberdorf and Marina Hegering (right).
(Photo: Arne Dedert/dpa)
What does that mean for Minge? Difficult. In any case, the constellation poses a certain challenge for them. She needs to tune her body and mind so she’s ready to step in on the biggest stage in her sport. And at the same time prepare to hear in the next conversation with the national coach that she is not needed after all. How does she deal with it? “I just try to experience everything as much as possible and feel fully integrated into the team.” For her, just being there is an award that she “didn’t expect at all” – and a confirmation “that I’m not doing so much so badly now”.
The midfielder ended the season with nine goals as the fourth-best Bundesliga goalscorer of all national players. She was also in the cup final with SC Freiburg. When five FC Bayern players arrived late for the first course and the coaching team then decided to nominate them, Minge was one of three. In the penultimate World Cup test against Vietnam (2-1), she scored her first goal on her second assignment for the DFB women – and was so convincing overall that she was allowed to take part in the second course again.
Minge, who grew up on Lake Constance, tries to absorb the speed, precision and intensity of the training sessions in Australia as best as possible. Every unit, she sees it, helps her development. Last summer, when the DFB selection narrowly missed out on the European title, Minge became European champion with the German national police team. The patrol officer will probably no longer have time for that in the future.
