Football: “Stupid mistakes again and again”: DFB women struggle despite victory

Horst Hrubesch spoke of a well-deserved victory for the German women’s football team in Poland, but the national coach was not really satisfied after the 3-1 (0-1) win in Gdynia and the associated qualification for the European Championship 2025.

“We have to decide these games more clearly,” said the 73-year-old in view of the many missed opportunities. The coach also had to worry about midfield star Lena Oberdorf, who held her left calf after a courageous tackle in the 37th minute and was substituted in tears.

“I don’t know why we always make it so difficult for ourselves in the first half,” asked double goalscorer Lea Schüller – and failed to explain: “In the second half we show what we can do.” Central defender Kathrin Hendrich said: “We keep making stupid mistakes and inviting the opponent to do so, and we were punished for that.”

“We still have to add a few more shovels”

Only an improvement in performance after the break and goals from Lea Schüller (51st and 69th minute) and Klara Bühl (77th) brought relief to the DFB team, after Dominika Grabowska (12th) had scored for the hosts. “We are happy that we were able to secure our ticket straight away with the first few games,” said captain Alexandra Popp after the fourth win in the fourth group game, but also complained: “We are not entirely satisfied with how it happened. We still have to do a few more things.”

Four days after the 4:1 win in Rostock, Hrubesch had put six new faces in the starting eleven against the pointless bottom team. Even regular captain Popp stayed out at the Miejski w Gdyni stadium, which is why the new Munich player Oberdorf was allowed to lead the DFB team onto the field as captain for the first time in her 50th international match.

Oberdorf’s calf is suffering

The rainbow armband did not bring her luck. She had to leave the field early “due to a painful blow to the left calf,” as the DFB announced shortly afterwards. She was even carried into the dressing room shortly afterwards, and Popp took over on the field. It was not yet clear in the evening whether Oberdorf would be out and for how long, but it was clear that she would miss the upcoming qualifying match against Iceland on July 12 due to her second yellow card.

As in Rostock, when the DFB team conceded the 0-1 after 28 seconds, the Poles took the lead early on. Grabowska scored safely from six meters after twelve minutes because the Germans had only half-heartedly defended the previous throw-in. Goalkeeper Stina Johannes was not to blame for the 0-1, as she was mostly unemployed on her international debut.

“Too afraid of making mistakes”

“We shouldn’t do that again, where we get a little sleepy right at the start,” Hrubesch had demanded beforehand on ARD, but he was not listened to. Much of the first half seemed sluggish, lacking flow and precision. “Too much fear of making mistakes,” Popp said of the first half, adding that they played “too nervously” and conceded unnecessary counterattacks.

There were still enough chances against the clear underdog. However, the Germans often wasted their chances in a hurry, and Schüller’s header once hit the crossbar. The former thoroughbred striker Hrubesch occasionally held his hands to his face in shock.

It was only after the break that the guests found ways and means. Popp passed a corner taken by Bühl to Schüller, who quickly equalized. It was the much-hoped-for shot. After a cross from club colleague Giulia Gwinn, Schüller beat the good Polish goalkeeper Kinga Szemik again.

The DFB team pressed for more goals against the increasingly exhausted Polish team. Bühl crowned a fine individual performance with a low shot to make the final score 3:1. “Overall, I’m satisfied, we’ve got our ticket to the European Championships now,” summed up Schüller.