As at the European Championships in England, Alexandra Popp scored twice against France in Dresden. The captain and striker still does not guarantee participation in the World Cup.
More than two months after the European Football Championship in England, DFB captain Alexandra Popp and her teammates celebrated at home in Dresden.
On the lap of honor after the 2-1 (1-0) friendly win against France, the runners-up European champions animated the audience to waves of enthusiasm long after the final whistle. 26,825 fans in the almost sold-out Rudolf Harbig Stadium created a great atmosphere on Friday evening. “The atmosphere was just amazing, it gave us wings. That’s how playing football is fun and winning is fun,” said Popp, who gave herself and the audience something of a déjà vu experience.
The 31-year-old from Wolfsburg scored both goals (44th and 48th minute) as she did in the 2-1 win against the French in the European Championship semifinals. “France suits me,” said Popp, who was loudly applauded when she was substituted, later with a smile.
With a lot of enthusiasm, the national team also thanked them for their support at the European Championships. “It’s just amazing how the people got along here. We just delivered here, we gave 100 percent like we did at the European Championship,” said goalkeeper Merle Frohms. Popp’s club colleague only had to get the ball out of the Metz shortly before the end of a penalty she was to blame for through Viviane Asseyi.
Despite her two goals and the enthusiasm of the crowd, Popp maintains that she does not want to commit to participating in the World Cup from July 20 to August 20, 2023 in Australia and New Zealand. She had said this several times before. She wants to listen to her gut feeling, even if she’s having a lot of fun with football at the moment. “As of now, I clearly have the World Championships on my list. I’m still leaving everything open to me,” said the 2016 Olympic champion.
Voss-Tecklenburg does not want to “interpret so much” into these statements and sees it “quite relaxed”. She could imagine that Popp’s concerns had something to do with the fact that she had to fight back after injuries. This was also the case before the European Championship after the striker suffered a meniscus damage. But she also said to her captain in light of Wembley’s final defeat by England: “We both lost a final. I don’t think you can stop like that.”
Source: Stern
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