Narrow win against Vietnam
Second row of the DFB women is struggling
The DFB women defeated Vietnam 2-1. photo
© Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/dpa
At the World Cup casting in Offenbach, the DFB women without Alexandra Popp and the Bayern aces show little penetrating power. Only Paulina Krumbiegel from Hoffenheim and Janina Minge from Freiburg meet.
Numerous experiments, only two goals and a lot of patchwork – the German footballers couldn’t shine in the penultimate test match against Vietnam exactly one month before their opening game at the World Cup in Australia.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s team only managed to win 2-1 (1-0) against the World Cup outsiders in Offenbach. The national coach used many players from the second row. Without captain Alexandra Popp, Paulina Krumbiegel scored in the third minute in front of 13,652 spectators on the Bieberer Berg. Janina Minge from SC Freiburg made it 2-0 with her first international goal (80′). In injury time, the Vietnamese even managed to score through Thi Thanh Nha Nguyen (90+3).
FC Bayern players were missing
In goalkeeper Merle Frohms and Lena Lattwein, Voss-Tecklenburg only had two Wolfsburg players in the starting XI and – as announced – no Bayern players. After the dispute between the DFB and the Munich club about their later arrival, the 55-year-old “did not want to take any risks” because the Bayern aces around Lena Magull and Lea Schüller only joined the national team on Friday after their vacation.
Popp was also rested: The Hoffenheim striker Melissa Kössler made her debut in the selection for the European Championship star from VfL Wolfsburg, but was unable to convert any of her chances. Especially for wobbly candidates like her, it was a great opportunity to qualify for a World Cup. After the last friendly against Zambia on July 7 (8:30 p.m./ARD) in Fürth, Voss-Tecklenburg will name their 23-man squad for the World Cup. Before that, it goes to the second training camp in Herzogenaurach.
As with her winning goal in the 2-1 win against world champions USA in November, Krumbiegel excelled as a goalscorer: The Hoffenheim native extended a cross from Nicole Anyomi into the net with a back-heel right at the start. A bit stunned and with his foot, Frohms fended off a shot from Thi Bich Thuy Nguyen after 15 minutes. The many loud Vietnamese fans already had the goal scream on their lips.
The vice European champions Lattwein and Sara Däbritz tried to boost the offensive. It became particularly dangerous when Krumbiegel or Anyomi put pressure on the outside. On the other hand, the game went pretty much past Frankfurt’s Laura Freigang with number 10. At the other end, regular keeper Frohms had to fish the ball out of the corner just before the break when Thi Van Duong took aim.
After the break, Chelsea pro Melanie Leupolz, who had become the mother of a boy last year, came in for midfield. But she also found hardly any gaps to the front. Freigang put the ball past the left post shortly after the change – otherwise the German selection continued to struggle. Before and after Minges 2-0, the Asians even missed two big chances before they were allowed to celebrate.
However, Voss-Tecklenburg still has time to form their tournament team. July 11th is the departure for the World Cup, on July 24th the first group game against Morocco. Colombia and South Korea are the other preliminary round opponents of the DFB women on the way to the hoped-for third World Cup title after 2003 and 2007.