DFB-Elf gives "1000 percent": In the semi-finals, Däbritz's heart for France is silent

In the semifinals of the European Football Championship against France, it could depend on an insider: Sara Däbritz.

DFB-Elf gives "1000 percent": In the semi-finals, Däbritz's heart for France is silent

In the semifinals of the European Football Championship against France, it could depend on an insider: Sara Däbritz. She played for PSG for three years, now the 28-year-old is moving to the most successful team in the world, Olympique Lyon. Before she can make her debut, she has to make herself unpopular.

Sara Däbritz didn't want to be seen in the cards. "We will be super prepared and give 1000 percent," she promised before the semi-finals of the European Football Championship in England (Wednesday, 9 p.m. / ZDF, DAZN and in the ntv.de live ticker). She probably has the best hand, after all, the 28-year-old has been under contract in France for three years.

At Paris St. Germain she played with five players from the French national team, after the European Championship she will form a team with five others because she is moving to Champions League winners Olympique Lyon. However, she will not exchange pleasantries prematurely during the game, it is quite possible that she will hurt her old and future teammates.

But she didn't want to overestimate her role: "Our analysts must have worked hard beforehand - and the coaching staff will prepare us as best they can." There are quite a number of scouts and analysts at the European Championships in England. According to assistant coach Britta Carlson, the DFB has tried to cover every possible opponent with a scout, up to six are deployed, plus the team's analysts. The team has already exchanged ideas with insider Däbritz "easily".

The obvious: The French have great individual quality and enormous offensive power, even if playmaker Marie-Antoinette is injured because she tore a meniscus and cruciate ligament in the second group game. The team is particularly strong on the flanks and has fast players on the wings, emphasized Däbritz. But the French team also have two days less rest between the quarter-finals and semi-finals and had to walk over 120 minutes to beat the Netherlands. Definitely not a disadvantage for the DFB-Elf, says Carlson.

The Germans, on the other hand, had some time to breathe deeply and were able to spend a team evening at Tower Bridge in London. Switch off from the constant thoughts about the longed-for finale. Because of course Däbritz hopes that "there will be a spot for us". She has already secured a place in the most successful women's soccer team, and Lyon is unrivaled with eight Champions League titles. Club owner Jean-Michel Aulas recognized the potential of women's football early on. His renowned men's brand has long since expanded to include lavish successes for women.

With her move, Däbritz is also freeing herself from annoying questions about Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar – the stars of PSG. Incidentally, she never had any contact with them, the teams have different training centers. At Olympique Lyon the men play in the premier league, of course, but the women deliver the more successful show. One of them is Däbritz' currently injured DFB colleague Dzenifer Marozsan, who tore a cruciate ligament in the World Cup qualifier against Serbia in April. Another is Wednesday's biggest opponent, France captain Wendie Renard. He doesn't want to give the DFB team any chances at all.

In terms of sport, there are plenty of reasons for moving to Lyon, but Däbritz also feels at home in France away from the pitch: "I like the cosiness there and the food there is also very good." Only sometimes does she miss her home, admits the native Bavarian, who has been playing in the DFB's A-Team since 2013.

She was just 18 when the national team won the last European title to date. As a young player, she was nominated by the national coach at the time, Silvia Neid, for the team that was in transition. At that time still a backup player, she was already a regular player when she won the Olympics in 2016 and was the second-best DFB goalscorer with three goals.

She is also one of the starting eleven for the current national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. She appreciates her "energy and physique". In the quarter-final win against Austria, she looked pretty exhausted when she was substituted after 64 minutes and hadn't made her best game with just 30 touches of the ball. However, she proved in the 59th minute that she is always ready to go and fight. Then she sprinted after Julia Hickelsberger-Füller, who had already passed full-back Felicitas Rauch. Däbritz could only manage with a tactical foul and saw a yellow card for it.

The games against Denmark and Finland in the preliminary round were certainly more to the liking of the "central figure in our game", as Voss-Tecklenburg had said about her before the tournament. There she had impressed with a lot of overview and an outstanding pass rate of almost 90 percent. The 90-time national player also helped against Spain to ensure that the German team still had a zero at the back. It is best to stick to this fact. Why Germany can make it to the final against the strong French? "We also have tremendous qualities. And if we have courage, we can beat France."