The DFB team needs a home win against Denmark this Friday with a two-goal difference – otherwise their Olympic dream will be shattered. Coach Hrubesch and his players sound confident.
Sara Däbritz stirred up emotions once again before what felt like the final game for the Paris ticket. “The Olympic Games that I was able to experience with the national team will always be in my heart. They are unforgettable, indescribable,” enthused the 28-year-old about the German footballers’ triumph in Rio de Janeiro in 2016: “Perhaps precisely because we had gold have.”
Däbritz would like to have an Olympic summer like this again in 2024. Whether interim national coach Horst Hrubesch’s DFB team can even take part in the tournament – the Nations League duel against Denmark this Friday (8.30 p.m./ZDF) in Rostock will be decisive.
The vice-European champions cannot yet secure participation in the Olympics against their neighbors – but they have definitely lost it. “Of course we know that it is a very special game,” said Däbritz, who works at Olympique Lyon.
Only first place counts
The German footballers, who travel to Wales at the end of the preliminary round on December 5th, are only allowed to play for one of the two European Olympic places in the four-team final tournament of the Nations League at the end of February if they are first in the group. In the event of a tie, the direct comparison and then the goal difference decide.
The Germans lost the first leg in Denmark 0-2. That’s why the only thing that helps the DFB team (9 points) is a win with at least a two-goal difference against the group-leading Danes (12) – then they would take the lead before the last matchday and have the urgently needed group victory in their own hands.
But no one in the German team wants to tense up because of the treacherous starting position. “To play through our game,” demanded Svenja Huth, who also hopes for “enjoyment of the game,” “fun” and “an early goal.” That would undoubtedly make the difficult mission easier.
“It’s worth fighting for”
Like Däbritz and Alexandra Popp, Huth was part of the gold team in Rio. Hrubesch won silver with the male U21 team. “It’s really a different event. It’s worth fighting for. It’s worth giving everything for it. I hope that we can experience that as a team,” said Däbritz. In order for the chance to be retained, a lot of things have to be different in the German game than in the first leg, which assistant coach Britta Carlson was responsible for.
“We helped a lot with both goals conceded,” analyzed Hrubesch, who was hardly worried about the two-goal mortgage: “When I play games, I want to decide them clearly. If I can score goals, I’ll do them,” said the 72nd -year olds. “We want to determine the game clearly from the start.” As in the recent appearances against Wales (5:1) and Iceland (2:0). Hrubesch found it “satisfactory”: “But afterwards we all agreed that more has to be done and more can be done.”
Schüller and Oberdorf are missing
Bayern striker Lea Schüller and center player Lena Oberdorf from VfL Wolfsburg will be missing. However, Munich playmaker Pernille Harder is also missing a key player on the Danish side. “We know that we are capable of beating Denmark. We don’t need to do any miracles or deviate from things that we have rehearsed over the years,” announced goalkeeper Merle Frohms confidently.
The German players did not qualify for the 2021 Olympics because of the botched 2019 World Cup, but with Hrubesch it should work out again this time. Däbritz and Huth recalled 2018, when the HSV legend had already led the German team to a decisive qualifying victory in Iceland. At that time it was about taking part in the World Cup.
The “pressure situation” had already existed, said Däbritz. “Of course that helps, especially in games like this, this experience, but also this calm, so that you don’t get hectic,” said Huth. So that the dream of the Olympics can live on – especially after the World Cup debacle in Australia this summer. Otherwise the DFB women would only have a major tournament appearance again at the 2025 European Championships in Switzerland.
Source: Stern
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