In exactly two weeks, the first group game of the German national team at the women's European Championship will take place and Martina Voss-Tecklenburg's team seems ready: In Erfurt, the German team dominates the overwhelmed Swiss with enthusiasm and commitment. A 21-year-old stands out.
Led by hat-trick Klara Bühl, the German footballers passed their dress rehearsal for the European Championship with flying colors. The DFB selection won their last endurance test against Switzerland 7-0 (2-0) and gained self-confidence for the difficult mission in England. "It's super good to play a game like that. It gives you confidence and shows that we're on the right track. That's the way it should go," said the outstanding Bühl on the ZDF microphone: "During the break we addressed a few things and wanted to implement it. It worked very, very well."
The extremely strong Bühl (6th/61st/66th), Lina Magull (41st), Linda Dallmann (81st/all Bayern Munich), Jule Brand (89th/TSG Hoffenheim) and Sydney Lohmann (90th 5/Bayern Munich) scored in Erfurt for a convincing victory for the playful and lively record European champions that was never in jeopardy. Two weeks before the tricky EURO opener against the runner-up Denmark (July 8th), Martina Voss-Tecklenburg could be extremely satisfied with the final form check.
In front of only 5918 spectators in the Steigerwald Stadium, the national coach offered her current strongest starting eleven, as announced. As expected, captain Alexandra Popp (VfL Wolfsburg) was only deployed in the final phase after her corona infection last week, and Lea Schüller from FC Bayern started up front for her.
After a nervous initial phase with a few mistakes, the DFB selection found their powerful game as desired by "MVT". Fast switching and a great overview brought in the early lead. Because midfielder Magull staged Bühl with a perfect pass into the depths. The winger stayed cool in her 24th international match and finished with the right to make it 1-0. That gave security, the German selection determined the events with great willingness to run.
Nothing burned in the defense in front of goalkeeper Merle Frohms (Eintracht Frankfurt). Marina Hegering (Bayern Munich) made her DFB comeback in central defense after a long forced break. In addition to the mellow Kathrin Hendrich (VfL Wolfsburg), the 32-year-old also had a lack of match practice in some scenes. Up front, the left side in particular caused unrest with the extremely strong Bühl. With a great solo on the wing, the 21-year-old prepared Magull's second goal.
After the change of sides, the picture was the same, Germany kept the pressure, the Swiss hardly came up with anything on the offensive. So Bühl plucked up courage, wowed the crowd with a long-range shot under the crossbar, and then took the dust off again after Schüller hit the post. Substitutes Dallmann, Brand and Lohmann increased in the closing stages.
The DFB women will continue their final course in Herzogenaurach until Wednesday. On July 3, the team will travel from Frankfurt to London, where they will set up base camp in Brentford. The other group opponents are co-favorite Spain (July 12) and Finland (July 16).
