With 108 international caps to her name, Babett Peter is one of the more experienced members of Germany's squad at the 2017 European Women's Championship in the Netherlands. In fact, only Anja Mittag (155) has more appearances for Germany in the current squad. We caught up with the 29-year-old centre-back to discuss the 0-0 draw with Sweden, her role as a leader in this team and how tough losing Svenja Huth was for the team.
DFB.de: Babett Peter, how long does it take you to recover physically from a match like the one against Sweden?
Babett Peter: You recover quicker after the first match than you do after matches later in the tournament. After one or two days your legs are relatively fresh again.
DFB.de: And mentally?
Peter: We've analysed the game and know what we can do better and what we want to do better. Now the focus is very much on Italy.
DFB.de: What was your impression of the Sweden match?
Peter: Obviously we were a little nervous at the start and it didn't help that they had quite a few corners early on. That meant that we weren't as calm as we might have been against Sweden. We found it difficult to get into the game, but as it went on we became more dominant and began to play our game.
DFB.de: How important was a clean sheet for you as a central defender?
Peter: It's always good to keep a clean sheet against a top team like Sweden. That was our aim and we achieved it so we're happy about that.
DFB.de: The defence was tested aerially in particular.
Peter: It's always difficult when Sweden play long balls unexpectedly. As a defender you're often in a bad position because you end up running facing your own goal. But we managed to cope with that on one or two occasions and we can be happy about that.
DFB.de: How do you view your role as a leader in this team?
Peter: Of course I have a leadership role because I'm experienced and have played in this side for a long time. But it's not the case that I wake up every morning and think 'how can I lead the team today'. Everyone who plays needs to take responsibility for the other ten players and the substitutes.
DFB.de: How do you do that from your position at centre-back?
Peter: I try to coordinate us at the back so that we are well organised and work together. That's my job. I like to talk to the others because that way I play better myself. I try to help the holing midfielders, the full-backs and my centre-back partner by giving them instructions.
DFB.de: Almost 10,000 fans in Breda made a lot of noise. Does that make communicating on the pitch more difficult?
Peter: If you want to communicate with the attackers then it's a little bit more difficult. Also at set-pieces if it's happening quickly, but we normally sort ourselves fairly well for them.
DFB.de: Have you been able to watch other games at the EUROs? What's your impression so far?
Peter: Yeah you watch the games if you have time. I think the overall standard is higher than it was four or eight years ago. Even the favourites have struggled a bit, for example, France against the deep Icelanders. Therefore, we can rate the point that we got in our opening match even higher as no team has found it easy to start the tournament.
DFB.de: How deep are you expecting the Italians to be when you play them on Friday (20:45 CEST)?
Peter: Similar, if not a little bit more defensive than Sweden. But they will always look to use their quality in attack. That's hard for the centre-backs, when you're not put under so much pressure, but still have to concentrate for the whole 90 minutes. There will always be one or two situations where you'll have to be there. It's a question of concentration. I always try to read the game and predict what is going to happen next.
DFB.de: What else will it come down to against Italy?
Peter: We'll have to play our way out of tight spaces and make sure that the final ball is good enough so that we can create chances to score.
DFB.de: How tough was it to lose Svenja Huth?
Peter: That obviously hurts. Not just personally for Svenja who is naturally really disappointed, but also for us as a team. She's an important player who always causes problems regardless of the defence. But we still have enough other players and enough quality to cope.
With 108 international caps to her name, Babett Peter is one of the more experienced members of Germany's squad at the 2017 European Women's Championship in the Netherlands. In fact, only Anja Mittag (155) has more appearances for Germany in the current squad. We caught up with the 29-year-old centre-back to discuss the 0-0 draw with Sweden, her role as a leader in this team and how tough losing Svenja Huth was for the team.
DFB.de: Babett Peter, how long does it take you to recover physically from a match like the one against Sweden?
Babett Peter: You recover quicker after the first match than you do after matches later in the tournament. After one or two days your legs are relatively fresh again.
DFB.de: And mentally?
Peter: We've analysed the game and know what we can do better and what we want to do better. Now the focus is very much on Italy.
DFB.de: What was your impression of the Sweden match?
Peter: Obviously we were a little nervous at the start and it didn't help that they had quite a few corners early on. That meant that we weren't as calm as we might have been against Sweden. We found it difficult to get into the game, but as it went on we became more dominant and began to play our game.
DFB.de: How important was a clean sheet for you as a central defender?
Peter: It's always good to keep a clean sheet against a top team like Sweden. That was our aim and we achieved it so we're happy about that.
DFB.de: The defence was tested aerially in particular.
Peter: It's always difficult when Sweden play long balls unexpectedly. As a defender you're often in a bad position because you end up running facing your own goal. But we managed to cope with that on one or two occasions and we can be happy about that.
DFB.de: How do you view your role as a leader in this team?
Peter: Of course I have a leadership role because I'm experienced and have played in this side for a long time. But it's not the case that I wake up every morning and think 'how can I lead the team today'. Everyone who plays needs to take responsibility for the other ten players and the substitutes.
DFB.de: How do you do that from your position at centre-back?
Peter: I try to coordinate us at the back so that we are well organised and work together. That's my job. I like to talk to the others because that way I play better myself. I try to help the holing midfielders, the full-backs and my centre-back partner by giving them instructions.
DFB.de: Almost 10,000 fans in Breda made a lot of noise. Does that make communicating on the pitch more difficult?
Peter: If you want to communicate with the attackers then it's a little bit more difficult. Also at set-pieces if it's happening quickly, but we normally sort ourselves fairly well for them.
DFB.de: Have you been able to watch other games at the EUROs? What's your impression so far?
Peter: Yeah you watch the games if you have time. I think the overall standard is higher than it was four or eight years ago. Even the favourites have struggled a bit, for example, France against the deep Icelanders. Therefore, we can rate the point that we got in our opening match even higher as no team has found it easy to start the tournament.
DFB.de: How deep are you expecting the Italians to be when you play them on Friday (20:45 CEST)?
Peter: Similar, if not a little bit more defensive than Sweden. But they will always look to use their quality in attack. That's hard for the centre-backs, when you're not put under so much pressure, but still have to concentrate for the whole 90 minutes. There will always be one or two situations where you'll have to be there. It's a question of concentration. I always try to read the game and predict what is going to happen next.
DFB.de: What else will it come down to against Italy?
Peter: We'll have to play our way out of tight spaces and make sure that the final ball is good enough so that we can create chances to score.
DFB.de: How tough was it to lose Svenja Huth?
Peter: That obviously hurts. Not just personally for Svenja who is naturally really disappointed, but also for us as a team. She's an important player who always causes problems regardless of the defence. But we still have enough other players and enough quality to cope.
