The way to Australia leads through Spain. Geographically wrong, but right for the German national football team. Coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg's team will fly to Marbella for initial preparation. The casting for the tournament will also continue with a "secret test".
The Super Bowl dark circles disappeared without a trace after Laura Freigang's visit to the mask. "That's why it took me so long," joked the international striker from Eintracht Frankfurt when she arrived at the DFB campus for the Marketing Day of the German soccer players, freshly made up. At the start of the tricky World Cup mission, however, the motto is: Off to the south!
At the training camp in Marbella, Alexandra Popp and Co. want to lay the foundation for the title hunt, which is due again in the summer. Exactly 160 days before the start of the World Cup Down Under against Morocco, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg's team is heading to Andalusia on Tuesday. "We want to start the year under the best possible conditions," said the national coach. The Vice European Champions will be sweating on the Costa del Sol until Sunday. A "secret test" against World Cup participants Ireland is on the program there without spectators before the first official international match of the year against Sweden in Duisburg on Carnival Tuesday (6.15 p.m. / ZDF and in the ntv.de live ticker).
At the old place of work, Popp could reach another milestone with her 125th DFB appearance. The undisputed leader recently confirmed her participation in the finals in Australia and New Zealand - if her body allows it. "If everything goes well, then I'll play the World Cup," the 31-year-old told Hessischer Rundfunk.
While this question has been clarified, "MVT" still has to be patient when extending their contract, which expires after the World Cup - thanks to the upheavals in the German Football Association after the separation from Oliver Bierhoff. "It will certainly not be the case that we only extend a contract after a World Cup," assured the 55-year-old expressly: "We are in talks."
There was also a lot of talk about the meticulous planning for the hunt for the third star. Voss-Tecklenburg and her coaching staff recently locked themselves in the Black Forest for four days, which had worked extremely well before the European Championship soared in England last year.
The personnel situation is not quite as ideal. Key player Lena Oberdorf (VfL Wolfsburg) had to withdraw due to illness, Dzsenifer Marozsan (Olympique Lyon) prefers to wait with her DFB comeback after a cruciate ligament rupture. Her Lyon colleague Sara Däbritz is back, and Marina Hegering (Wolfsburg) returns in defence.
The World Cup casting has long since begun. "We have a very high-quality squad," said the national coach: "That makes it really exciting." If everything goes according to plan, the DFB selection will test several top opponents before the World Cup against Morocco (July 24/Melbourne), Colombia (July 30/Sydney) and South Korea (August 3/Brisbane). However, the preparatory games have not yet been scheduled.
Great travel strains are imminent, the base camp will be in Wyong, around 100 kilometers north of Sydney. The German entourage would also like to stay there until the end of the tournament - after all, the final will take place on August 20th in the former Olympic stadium "Stadium Australia" in Sydney.
