Farrow (dpa) – A giant step towards the 2023 World Cup in 2022 – that’s what German footballers want ahead of the final in 2021.
National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side can break five points from their strongest rivals if they manage to qualify for the World Cup against Portugal on Tuesday (7pm / ZDF live) in Faro. “We also know we are the better team. The 53-year-old confidently said. From Wednesday, the full focus will be applied to the next European Championship.
“The players are in very good shape. We will take on this challenge full of energy and joy.” So far, the DFB selection has been an easy feat en route to the World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand. In five matches, there have been five wins by a difference A goal of 28:1, the most recent in Braunschweig 8:0 was a delightful match against Turkey.
The first true standard
Portugal is the first real benchmark, as the 0-0 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League at Benfica Lisbon suggests. “Benfica pressed us well, the players were quick and strong in the tackles. Lea Schuller, Munich’s top scorer in the DFB jersey, warned, ‘Of course, your national team should perform in the same way’.”
“Very strong, very strong in duels,” said Voss Tecklenburg, Portugal. Also of interest to the coach: “Very close to Spain in terms of DNA.” Because in the preliminary round of the European Championships in England in July, the record European champions will meet Spain, Denmark and Finland. At the moment, the German Federation has yet to find a place for the final tournament. The national coach had criticized UEFA (“the preparation of all this was not good by UEFA”) for his poor hotel offer.
Where their team actually stands internationally will be shown in England in February. In the preparations for the European Championship, the contenders are host England and Spain with players from the first-class winners Barcelona and Olympic champions Canada. “This tournament is a good opportunity to put some real endurance tests into the start of EM,” said Vos-Tecklenburg.
There is no comparison with the major countries
The former international striker has a squad with many talents such as Jule Brand, and seasoned players such as Sara Däbritz, Dzsenifer Marozsan and Lea Schüller have a top scorer. But the comparison with the major countries is missing: with the 2019 World Cup quarter-finals, the DFB team missed the summer games in Tokyo.
At Estádio de São Luís in Faro, personal EM selection for players will continue. Germany leads Group H, two points behind Portugal. The return match will be held on April 9. At best, the 2003-2007 world champions will qualify for the 2023 World Cup before the European Championships, with the last two matches after the tournament to be played in September. Only the first in the group has a direct ticket to the 2023 World Cup. The second play in the qualifiers for two other places.
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