US soccer star Megan Rapinoe scores against the DFB women – but they still have a returnee named Paulina Krumbiegel up their sleeves in a high-class friendly.
To the delight of Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, the German soccer players delivered a spectacle with “a lot, a lot of speed” with the USA – and taught the world champions their first home defeat after 71 games. “It’s a good step for us,” said the national coach after the 2-1 (0-0) victory in Fort Lauderdale’s endurance test.
In front of 16,917 spectators, the runners-up European champions around captain Alexandra Popp were very lucky in the first half when the Americans around Alex Morgan ran on – and also when they scored the opening goal, when the ball bounced off the back of goalkeeper Casey Murphy after a shot by Munich’s Klara Bühl (51st minute). In the intensive exchange of blows, the 37-year-old US star Megan Rapinoe equalized in the 85th minute, but Paulina Krumbiegel, who also came on as a substitute, made it 2-1 (89th).
The 22-year-old from Hoffenheim ensured the first success for the DFB women against the Americans since 2006 – and made a great comeback for herself: Krumbiegel suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in August 2021 and missed the European Championships in England. “Paulina has been built up very, very well at the club. They did it very carefully,” said Voss-Tecklenburg. “I think Pauli did it very, very well in both directions. She had good game intelligence, was calm in the game, was active both offensively and defensively. So I’m very happy that she really dared to do something today.”
American women are still considered world title contenders
The Americans suffered their third loss in a row after a 2-1 loss in England and a 2-0 loss in Spain, but are still considered major contenders for the World Cup. With their powerful style of play and their high pace, they gave the DFB team a foretaste of the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. There, Germany meets Morocco, Colombia and South Korea in the preliminary round. The four-time world champion from the USA is already challenging the DFB women this Sunday (11:08 p.m. CET/sportschau.de) in Harrison/New Jersey for a friendly revenge.
“We learned a lot from players who don’t play at this level that often. The pace was enormous, it went back and forth at the beginning. I really thought: Wow! If everyone wants to keep going, then that’s really a house number “, said Voss-Tecklenburg and certainly meant players like Frankfurt’s Laura Freigang and Soeke Nüsken. “For us, the win means that we know we can react to certain mistakes or to certain things that we might not be doing so well.”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
