The national team's match is discussed here. - Women's DFB team remains in the search for Olympic qualification.
The build-up to the Olympic Games for the German women's football team is proving to be challenging. The takeaways from their 4:1 win over Poland in the European Championship qualifier match, held 55 days before the first Olympic game, were minimal.
The least perturbed by this was interim national coach Horst Hrubesch. "I don't base anything on a single game," he said following the match in Rostock. In essence, the coach doesn't plan on making drastic changes for the tournament in France. Nonetheless, he must eliminate four players from the original 22-member squad. The Olympics permit a maximum of 16 field players and two goalkeepers to travel. "There will likely be a couple of tough decisions to make," Hrubesch warned.
Hrubesch wishes to take the entire 22-member squad to the Olympics if possible. He would prefer to travel with all his players, rather than just 18, to enhance flexibility. However, the German Football Association (DFB) has appealed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with other European countries for the right to field 22 players. A decision is yet to be made, but the odds of it being positive are meager.
There are three more chances for Hurbesch to test his team before the Olympics commence. All these games are qualifiers for the 2025 European Championship in Switzerland. Germany has already won all three encounters thus far. On Tuesday (6:15 PM/ARD), a win against Poland in Gdynia would assure their participation in the European Championship. "This is significant for us," said Giulia Gwinn of German champions Bayern Munich. "Of course, we also want to win the other games and leave with a good feeling."
The two remaining qualifiers against Iceland (July 12) in Reykjavik and against Austria (July 16) in Hanover will serve as warm-ups. Germany will face the Olympic Games nine days after the match with Austria, starting with a game against Australia in Marseille. The other group opponents are the USA and Zambia.
There's no room for slip-ups like the one against Poland and the recent games. As clear-cut as the end result of the game was, the first-half performance caused concern.
Gwinn: "We're always there"
Defensively, the team was vulnerable without captain Marina Hegering. When she came on in the second half, she provided stability. Unfortunately, she suffered a calf injury after just 29 minutes and had to be substituted. Even in the 3:2 victory over Austria in early April, the German team started slowly, falling behind 0:2 before rallying to win. "We need to be on top of things from the start, tackle two-on-one situations, and exert more pressure," said deputy captain Gwinn critically in Rostock. "That didn't happen in the first half." Nevertheless, the 24-year-old double goalscorer sees optimistic aspects. "We can take pride in coming back. We're always there, even if our start isn't perfect." At least, he has gained some understanding.
DFB and other European nations have lodged complaints with the IOC about limiting the number of national team members to 18 players, expressing strong disapproval. There's been no official response yet, but the likelihood of a favorable IOC verdict is low.
