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The DFB women started their World Cup adventure in Australia. Before that, captain Alexandra Popp caused a stir among her teammates with a presentation.
Frankfurt – On Tuesday evening, the DFB entourage started towards Down Under for the big World Cup adventure. The German base camp is in Wyong, in the state of New South Wales, around 100 kilometers from Sydney. There, the players are now preparing for the first World Cup game against Morocco (July 24, 10:30 German time) – and may have to be prepared for animal visitors.
Alexandra PoppBorn:6. April 1991 (32 years) Club: VfL Wolfsburg Internationals: 128 (62 goals) Captain since: 2019
DFB captain Popp holds animal presentation
As Popp herself revealed shortly before departure, she gave a presentation about wildlife in Australia before departure – and obviously gave her teammates goosebumps. “I took a little time to make a small presentation about one or the other animal species,” said the trained animal keeper.
The captain revealed that this did not go down well with everyone: “Koalas, different types of kangaroos and, of course, what can come our way: the most poisonous animals in the world. That didn’t go down too well with the players. Maybe I aroused more fear than I wanted,” says Popp with a smile. Maybe that was one of the reasons why things didn’t go smoothly on the DFB flight.
Before the trip to Australia, DFB captain Alexandra Popp told her teammates about the most poisonous animals Down Under. © IMAGO / Beautiful Sports / IMAGO / perspective
Before the start of the World Cup: national coach Voss-Tecklenburg wants to hunt spiders
National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg also revealed before departure that the Australian wildlife is a big topic in the internal WhatsApp group. “In the first few days, when it comes to keeping us awake, we want to offer a little bit of recreational activity. About kangaroo visits, maybe spider hunting. Maybe one is running around with a bow and arrow,” Voss-Tecklenburg joked.
In fact, not only kangaroos and koalas await the DFB team in Australia, but also some of the most poisonous animals in the world. For example, a bite from the poisonous funnel-web spider can be deadly. Also found in the Australian outback is the Taipan snake, which is considered the most venomous and dangerous snake in the world. However, it is unlikely that the players should actually come across one of the animals.
Squad at the 2023 Women’s World Cup: Germany wants to win the title with these players
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Germany wants to play for the World Cup title
The women’s national team, which according to a recent survey is also more popular than the DFB men, wants to play for the title at the tournament in Australia and New Zealand. Even if the friendlies before the tournament (2-1 win against Vietnam and 2-3 loss against Zambia) give little hope. Voss-Tecklenburg hopes that their players will improve their performance.
The national coach is still optimistic for the upcoming tournament: “I’m totally optimistic because I trust our players and the team. I hope that we will push our performance limits in every game,” said the 55-year-old on ARD. After the opening game against Morocco, the DFB women will meet Colombia (July 30) and South Korea (August 3) in the preliminary round. (tears)
2023-07-17 06:15:15
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