National team
Hrubesch and DFB women: If necessary, a “transitional period”
Horst Hrubesch would continue to help out as national coach at short notice if the German soccer players missed the Olympic qualification. photo
© Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
Horst Hrubesch is supposed to lead the women’s national team to Paris. And if the Olympics don’t work out?
“I said that in this case it would be completely normal – if it really happened like that,” said the 72-year-old in a media round and spoke of a possible “transitional period”. “But that will be decided by the DFB, I’m not involved in that right now, Nia Künzer will have to do that with Mr. Rettig.”
Hrubesch had already made it clear last year that he would only look after the DFB women at the Olympic Games (July 26th to August 11th) – if the national team made it to Paris. The German Football Association has been looking for a successor for a long time. This primarily involves managing director Andreas Rettig and the new sports director Nia Künzer.
The German women would have secured their Olympic ticket with a win against France in the semi-finals of the Nations League on February 23rd (9 p.m./ARD) in Lyon. The two finalists qualify for Paris alongside hosts France.
Should the French defeat the German team, the third team would also be there and the DFB selection would have a second chance on February 28th against the loser of the game between world champions Spain and the Netherlands. “For me, the focus is clearly on this first game,” said Hrubesch, who won silver with the DFB men in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and definitely wants to experience the Olympics again.
The Hamburg striker idol took over the position at the beginning of October for the second time since 2018 after the DFB separated from national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. For the DFB women, the new Nations League round begins in April with qualification for the 2025 European Championship in Switzerland. This would be the next international tournament for the European runners-up if they miss the games in Paris.