Voss-Tecklenburg: high goals are just fine
Alexandra Popp & Co.: dog lovers, pranksters and unlucky ones
From July 20 to August 20, the ninth Women’s World Cup will take place in Australia and New Zealand. The German team wants to win the cup for the third time after 2003 and 2007 and has also made this goal clear.
“We want to get the title,” said captain Alexandra Popp. But the competition is greater than ever. The German Press Agency answers the most important questions ahead of the opening game between New Zealand and Norway.
The team of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (55) begins the tournament on July 24 in Melbourne against Morocco (10:30 CEST / ZDF). The other Group H opponents are Colombia, who await the DFB team in Sydney on Sunday July 30 (11:30 CEST/ARD), and finally South Korea (12:00 CEST/ZDF). The favorite to win the group is DFB-Elf, who sit second behind USA in the world rankings. South Korea (17th) and Colombia (25th) are likely to play for second place, Morocco (72nd), World Cup debutants, are hoping for a surprise move like in 2022 with the men who were the first team Africa to reach a World Cup semi-final. final in Qatar.
At the latest after the last group match of the German team against South Korea on August 3 in Brisbane, it will be clear which opponent will await the European vice-champion if he qualifies for the round of 16 . A duel with one of the top two teams from France or Brazil is considered likely.
32 teams are taking part in this World Cup, more than any other women’s football tournament to date. In the first World Cup tournament in 1991, which was held in China, only twelve teams played for the trophy. From 1999 in the United States 16 participated, in Canada it was increased to 24 in 2015. So now for the next increase – which will also benefit eight World Cup debutants: Haiti, Ireland, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines, Portugal, Vietnam and Zambia. “This is an important step for the development of many nations. I’m curious how the tournament and the level will be. We have to wait and see if there will be a lot of good results,” said DFB official Joti Chatzialexiou, sporting director for national teams.
Besides Voss-Tecklenburg, another German coach is taking part in the World Cup at Inka Grings. The former national player relies on former Bundesliga professionals Ramona Bachmann, captain Lia Wälti and record holder Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic in Switzerland.
Many top players will miss the tournament for various reasons, mainly due to injuries. Missing from the DFB squad are Bayern professionals Giulia Gwinn and Linda Dallmann, who were unable to recover in time from their injuries. The same goes for defender Becky Sauerbrunn, midfielder Mallory Swanson (both American), England captain Leah Williamson or striker Beth Mead, who scored six goals for the “Lionesses” last year for the title of European champion.
With the Dutch Vivianne Miedema and the French Marie-Antoinette Katoto as well as Delphine Cascarino, other top attackers missed the tournament through injury. Costa Rican legend Shirley Cruz, on the other hand, is missing for political reasons, according to the ‘ffussball’ portal – the 37-year-old attacking force is said to have strongly criticized the association. And Christiane Endler, goalkeeper of the 2021 World Cup, failed with Chile in qualifying.
“It’s our big goal to reach the final, and then, as Horst Hrubesch has always said, ‘it doesn’t make sense to lose there’,” DFB goalkeeper Merle Frohms told AFP. approaching the tournament. In addition to the German team, she sees far ahead of the defending champions of the United States, European champions England and France. A number of other nations are also expected, including world runners-up Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, Canada, Norway, Sweden and Spain. “Nobody said it would be easy. But of course we want to get to the final and win the title,” Frohms said.
World Cup matches will be played in a total of ten stadiums, six in Australia and four in New Zealand. In Auckland, New Zealand, the World Cup between the hosts and Norway will open on July 20 at Eden Park in front of up to 50,000 fans (09:00 CEST/ARD). The Australians will next face Norway at Australia Stadium in Sydney (12:00 CEST/ARD). Once built for the 2000 Olympics, a semi-final and final will also be held here. Australia Stadium can hold 83,500 fans, more than any other World Cup arena. Very few spectators enter the Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide. It has a capacity of 18,500 fans.
The German team begins the preliminary round against Morocco at the Melbourne stadium (30,000) and plays the other matches at the Sydney stadium (against Colombia / 42,000) and at the Brisbane stadium (against South Korea / 50,000 ). Other World Cup venues are Perth Stadium (20,000) and the three New Zealand venues of Dunedin Stadium (28,000), Waikato Stadium in Hamilton (25,000) and Wellington Stadium (39,500).
ARD and ZDF each broadcast 20 matches on television in the group stage. In addition, there are live streams on the Internet at “sportstudio.de” and “sportschau.de”. The second shows the final in Sydney on August 20 (12:00 CEST). It is not yet known how the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals will be divided.
Only four nations have been world champions so far, in addition to record champions USA (4 titles) and Germany (2) are Japan and Norway (1 each). With Marta, who is also active at this World Cup, Brazil have the most successful goalscorer. The 37-year-old has scored 17 times in 20 World Cup appearances. They are followed by the German Birgit Prinz and the American Abby Wambach (14 goals each). Kristine Lilly (USA) has the most appearances, appearing a total of 30 times in five appearances between 1991 and 2007. Prinz, who also appeared in five World Cup tournaments between 1995 and 2011, follows in fifth place with six games down.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:230706-99-300553/3
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