European Championship
Voss-Tecklenburg’s hope for the spark to Germany
Confident ahead of the European Championship: national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa/archive image
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The preparation exceeded their expectations, so we’re ready to go. The start of the European Championship is getting closer for Germany’s best soccer players.
Before the days off to take a deep breath, the German EM soccer players have to sweat a lot. But the time of “pig units” is over.
“You can also take a rest to have the necessary freshness,” said national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg from the camp in Herzogenaurach.
For Friday and Saturday she doesn’t want to give her players anything other than relaxing and enjoying time at home. On Sunday they get on the plane to England.
Voss-Tecklenburg very satisfied with the preparation
Voss-Tecklenburg emphasized that expectations for the preparations for the tournament had been exceeded. And the 54-year-old seemed extremely relaxed and satisfied with what had been achieved in the past few weeks and months. Even if not everyone is 100 percent yet. For the players who were out longer, “we still see a need for action,” said Voss-Tecklenburg.
For example, captain Alexandra Popp after her Corona break. Or their Wolfsburg club colleague Tabea Waßmuth after a calf injury. “But we knew that beforehand,” said the national coach with a view to the backlog of the two in the fitness area.
Does the spark fly?
Before the days off, the same applies to everyone: train, train, train. Tuesday in the camp in Herzogenaurach, Voss-Tecklenburg wants to let the squad sweat there again on Wednesday morning. The former national player has announced a high-stress unit at home for Thursday. Voss-Tecklenburg emphasized that she was not worried that her team would not have the freshness and energy they needed in the first game to go full throttle for 90 or 95 minutes.
At the latest with a successful start on Friday next week in London’s Brentford Community Stadium against Denmark, she is also hoping for an emotional spark at home. But she already wishes that “this spark will fly over to Germany, that we actually have a big football tournament ahead of us – and that’s not the World Cup in Qatar, it’s the European Championship in England”. There Spain and Finland are the other opponents in Group B.