football
Chancellor Scholz keeps his fingers crossed for the DFB women for the Olympics
Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the DFB women during training in Frankfurt am Main. photo
© Thomas Frey/dpa
It is Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s third visit to the German women’s national football team. This time it should also be motivation for the Olympic qualification.
“This is a really big topic. I wish the German team all the best,” said the SPD politician. “Of course I’ve already started keeping my fingers crossed for the next game against Wales.” Scholz first watched the training in the drizzle and then spoke to the players at the headquarters of the German Football Association.
The national team has been preparing since Monday at the DFB campus on the Main for the next Nations League games on Friday against outsiders Wales in Sinsheim and on October 31st in Iceland. The 72-year-old Horst Hrubesch returns as interim coach after national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg reported sick after the World Cup, from which her team was eliminated in the preliminary round, and is now on vacation.
Popp: “That’s a great appreciation”
“It is a huge honor for us that the Chancellor has made the journey to us. That is a great appreciation,” said captain Alexandra Popp. “It’s good for us to talk in a calm and relaxed atmosphere – and it’s good for the Chancellor too. That makes us look forward to more.”
For Scholz it was the third encounter with the DFB selection. After the successful European Championship in England in the summer of 2022, when the DFB team only lost to the hosts in the final, he visited the association headquarters. In February he was a guest at an international match against Sweden in Duisburg. “I’m very excited about how women’s football has made a career in Germany,” said the Chancellor.
At the same time, he took the opportunity to promote the joint bid for the 2027 Women’s World Cup, which Germany wants to host with Belgium and the Netherlands. “It would be a big deal for us if the World Cup took place here too,” said Scholz.
As support for the DFB’s efforts towards the World Cup, which will be awarded in spring 2024, the chancellor’s visit was significant for association president Bernd Neuendorf: “The chancellor’s statement is of great importance because it documents that the federal government is fully behind the application. ” The DFB boss promised somewhat euphorically: “We hope to return from Paris with a gold medal and to be able to win the title at the next European Championship in Germany – and to welcome the Chancellor here again.”