A win is needed: Alexandra Popp and Horst Hrubesch
Photo: dpa/Sebastian Gollnow
There are still a lot of beautiful things to discover in Lyon. A trip to the old town and then a walk up to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière will be rewarded with a magnificent view. Megan Rapinoe and Co. once lived right around the corner during their world championship mission in the summer of 2019. After the blow in the neck in the Nations League semi-final against France (1:2), the German footballers stayed in the charming city at the confluence of the Rhône and Saône for a few days.
On Tuesday we go to Heerenveen, where the game for third place in the Final Four against the Netherlands (Wednesday 8.45 p.m., ZDF) is more than a deciding game for the Olympic ticket. It’s also about how long the interim coach Horst Hrubesch, who is so popular with the players, will continue. “We want to do everything we can to ensure that we continue to work together in the next few weeks and months,” said goalkeeper Merle Frohms, who, like her coach, dreams of Paris 2024: “We all really want to go there. Not just for Horst, but because it’s such a big dream for every athlete.”
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In the event of failure, the DFB would announce an immediate restart, as qualification for the 2025 European Championship in Switzerland will take place from April to July. Without the Olympics, another person would be entrusted with the task, which can be deduced from all the statements made by sports director Nia Künzer. The choice will certainly not fall on Hansi Flick, who was brought into the game by former national goalkeeper Almuth Schult. Priceless and unrealistic.
Of all things, in his 13th international match – there were seven wins and one draw when he was first signed in 2018 – emergency helper Hrubesch suffered his first defeat with the DFB women, which the 72-year-old celebrated in a big circle on Friday: “The story is not over .” You now have to “bite it and step on the gas.” Although the Netherlands lost 3-0 to world champions Spain, his counterpart Andries Jonker’s team has looked much more stable for some time. The Germans still lack conviction, flexibility and precision – and in some positions there is a fundamental question of quality.
The friendly match a year ago against the “Oranje Leuwinnen” was won so happily under coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg that nothing should be drawn from it. Hrubesch suspects that there will be a lot of resistance to overcome in front of frenetic fans. The HSV idol said about “his girls”: “On the one hand, I believe in them. On the other hand, they have all the qualities, but they have to do everything for it. 90 percent isn’t enough.”
Although he managed the balancing act of sitting on the back of his folding chair at the Groupama Stadium, the match plan went wrong. The disadvantages of the dual leadership with Lea Schüller and Alexandra Popp could not be overlooked for 30,267 eyewitnesses and 3.19 million viewers on ARD: long hits from the defense, ball losses far too early, the unoccupied ten-man space in front of the double six Lena Oberdorf and Sjoeke Nüsken.
After Schüller’s too short header defense, Kadidiatou Dani chased the ball into the net (41′), then a loss of the ball by Marina Hegering led to the situation in which Oberdorf caused the penalty that was converted by Sakina Karchaoui (45’+4). Captain Popp had complained loudly about Oberdorf: “She doesn’t have to take the plunge.” The 32-year-old was generally annoyed: “The consistency is fundamentally lacking. It’s brutally annoying because there could have been more.” Giulia Gwinn found the clearest words when the right-back, who was successful with a hand penalty (82′), mentioned the “scaredy football” of the first half.
“We only did what we wanted in the second half,” said Hrubesch, who immediately rectified his unsuccessful approach at the break: with his three substitutions, especially by Sydney Lohmann and Sara Däbritz, and a change to 4-2. 3-1, the Germans achieved a certain superiority, but this ensemble is about as far away from the self-image of a top nation with title ambitions as Lyon is from Heerenveen.
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