The Germany women’s national team are facing some tough competition in friendly matches: on Saturday, 10th April (16:10 CEST) they will face Australia before a game against Norway on Tuesday, 13th April (16:00 CEST). Both games take place at the same venue, the BRITA-Arena in Wiesbaden. Head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg spoke to DFB.de to discuss the opposition and the top clubs in the FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg on...
...the aims for the friendlies: We always do our jobs the same, no matter how things are going. The focus now is on being brave and busy, as well as playing with quality and being effective. On top of that, we want to work on short passing and good combinations in tight spaces.
…the opposition: For these games, we consciously searched for two different opponents. In Australia we are playing a really ambitious team that we haven’t faced too often in the past. They have a new coach and haven’t been playing together long but there is great quality available to the squad and they have a good mentality. In contrast, we know Norway well and we see them as a good challenge because they are really strong, especially in attack. They will demand us to be at our best. We are facing two nations that are positive and want to show their quality.
…the physical shape of the team: For us the priority is not to get drawn into the physical battle, but to prevail through lots of possession and speed of distribution. Nevertheless we will need to be strong in the one-on-one battles, which require top physical condition. In general, I think the players have that necessary physicality. The current high workload will be a factor.
...the goalkeeping situation: Merle Frohms is currently our number one, we’ve told our goalkeepers that. But in the last round of games, we said that Laura Benkarth would also get the opportunity to play when we have two games. First of all, it’s important that all four goalkeepers arrive healthy and then we will discuss everything else with them and with the goalkeeping coaches at the start of the international break.
…the state of the team looking ahead to the 2022 European Championship: I think that we have made real progress in lots of areas where I think that we’re at 80 or 90% of our potential. But there are also certain other aspects where it’s more like 60 or 70%. We will keep going with the friendlies until summer, trying out various things. We will use the time between now and the Euros for intense preparations. In six months time we will have a better idea of which players will be in the fold and who will miss out.
…the cancellation of the planned USA tour: We on the sporting side were involved in making the decision not to travel to the USA. US Soccer have also been very understanding regarding the decision. We do want to make the trip at some point but right now is not the time for it and so we will have to be patient.
…Olympique Lyon and Dzsenifer Marozsán’s quarantine: We are in contact with them and are currently receiving daily updates from Lyon and Dzsenifer Marozsán in particular. The first priority is keeping them healthy. We will discuss everything else with her and her club.
…a potential changing of the guard in the Frauen-Bundesliga: I don’t see any changing of the guard and I think that the upcoming cup game between VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern Munich will be an even clash. Both are top teams with lots of international players and I am happy that Bayern have developed so well and closed the gap that existed last year.
…German sides in the Women's Champions League: Wolfsburg have to take the chances that came their way in the first leg. With a two or three goal lead at half-time, the game probably would have turned out differently [from a 2-1 defeat]. I am looking forward to the return leg and I think it will be really close and exciting. Despite the first leg loss, I see Wolfsburg as have at least a 50-50 chance. Bayern showed their dominance against a physically strong FC Rosengard and deservedly won big in the first leg [3-0]. The aim for the second leg will be to score an early away goal and then see the game out nice and calmly. Then it will be exciting to see who their next opponents are.
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The Germany women’s national team are facing some tough competition in friendly matches: on Saturday, 10th April (16:10 CEST) they will face Australia before a game against Norway on Tuesday, 13th April (16:00 CEST). Both games take place at the same venue, the BRITA-Arena in Wiesbaden. Head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg spoke to DFB.de to discuss the opposition and the top clubs in the FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg on...
...the aims for the friendlies: We always do our jobs the same, no matter how things are going. The focus now is on being brave and busy, as well as playing with quality and being effective. On top of that, we want to work on short passing and good combinations in tight spaces.
…the opposition: For these games, we consciously searched for two different opponents. In Australia we are playing a really ambitious team that we haven’t faced too often in the past. They have a new coach and haven’t been playing together long but there is great quality available to the squad and they have a good mentality. In contrast, we know Norway well and we see them as a good challenge because they are really strong, especially in attack. They will demand us to be at our best. We are facing two nations that are positive and want to show their quality.
…the physical shape of the team: For us the priority is not to get drawn into the physical battle, but to prevail through lots of possession and speed of distribution. Nevertheless we will need to be strong in the one-on-one battles, which require top physical condition. In general, I think the players have that necessary physicality. The current high workload will be a factor.
...the goalkeeping situation: Merle Frohms is currently our number one, we’ve told our goalkeepers that. But in the last round of games, we said that Laura Benkarth would also get the opportunity to play when we have two games. First of all, it’s important that all four goalkeepers arrive healthy and then we will discuss everything else with them and with the goalkeeping coaches at the start of the international break.
…the state of the team looking ahead to the 2022 European Championship: I think that we have made real progress in lots of areas where I think that we’re at 80 or 90% of our potential. But there are also certain other aspects where it’s more like 60 or 70%. We will keep going with the friendlies until summer, trying out various things. We will use the time between now and the Euros for intense preparations. In six months time we will have a better idea of which players will be in the fold and who will miss out.
…the cancellation of the planned USA tour: We on the sporting side were involved in making the decision not to travel to the USA. US Soccer have also been very understanding regarding the decision. We do want to make the trip at some point but right now is not the time for it and so we will have to be patient.
…Olympique Lyon and Dzsenifer Marozsán’s quarantine: We are in contact with them and are currently receiving daily updates from Lyon and Dzsenifer Marozsán in particular. The first priority is keeping them healthy. We will discuss everything else with her and her club.
…a potential changing of the guard in the Frauen-Bundesliga: I don’t see any changing of the guard and I think that the upcoming cup game between VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern Munich will be an even clash. Both are top teams with lots of international players and I am happy that Bayern have developed so well and closed the gap that existed last year.
…German sides in the Women's Champions League: Wolfsburg have to take the chances that came their way in the first leg. With a two or three goal lead at half-time, the game probably would have turned out differently [from a 2-1 defeat]. I am looking forward to the return leg and I think it will be really close and exciting. Despite the first leg loss, I see Wolfsburg as have at least a 50-50 chance. Bayern showed their dominance against a physically strong FC Rosengard and deservedly won big in the first leg [3-0]. The aim for the second leg will be to score an early away goal and then see the game out nice and calmly. Then it will be exciting to see who their next opponents are.
