Only thanks to the strong character of the Icelandic women do the DFB women have a chance of making it to the Olympics. Indicative of the enigmatic character of a team that is struggling for continuity even under Horst Hrubesch. A comment.
It was probably the last business trip that Joti Chatzialexiou took with the German footballers. His job as sporting director for national teams will soon be no longer applicable in the new organizational structure at the German Football Association (DFB) – and Nia Künzer will soon be responsible for the DFB women as sporting director. After all, Chatzialexiou was happy about “the early St. Nicholas present that the Icelanders gave us,” as the 47-year-old said as an eyewitness to a disturbing performance by the DFB women in Wales (0-0). It was only thanks to Iceland’s victory in Denmark (1-0) that the uninspired performance, which was watched by at least a million viewers on the ARD live stream, had no consequences.
It would have been fitting for an international year full of irritation if the chance of the Olympic Games had been thrown away by an ensemble in Swansea that was still celebrating in Rostock four days ago. Horst Hrubesch may have been irritated by the return to unimaginative World Cup times. There was no sign of the winning mentality of the last time against Denmark (3-0). Even under the interim coach, this ensemble continues to pose endless puzzles.
The dream of the Olympics still lives on. UEFA is awarding the two free starting places for the first time through its new Nations League. The final round is scheduled for February 23rd to 28th, 2024, the semi-finals will be drawn on Monday, along with home advantage. Unlike the men, the women do not play a tournament on a neutral court.
Hrubesch openly says that he would love France because then they would have two options to qualify. That’s right: If the French women, who have already qualified as hosts, make it to the final, third place will be enough. The other opponents are world champions Spain and the Netherlands, who eliminated runner-up world champions England with a last-minute goal against Belgium (4-0). But Germany is not the favorite against any opponent, but rather the outsider, Hrubesch also knows that.
The 72-year-old was downright disturbed by how his players had allowed themselves to take control of the action. That is not the claim – especially not of the HSV idol. Resting his top performers like Giulia Gwinn and Sydney Lohmann from FC Bayern was a mistake – just like the starting line-up of Jule Brand, who was even counted internally at VfL Wolfsburg by sports director Ralf Kellermann.
There are six candidates
Hrubesch continues through the New Year. He would also not be denied the dream of competing with Alexandra Popp and Co. at the Olympic Games (July 26 to August 11, 2024). Nevertheless, it is only professional for DFB managing director Andreas Rettig – certainly already in close consultation with Künzer – to discuss the coaching question in the background in order to be prepared for next summer at the latest.
The first requirement should be experience in the women’s sector, so Stefan Kuntz or Miroslav Klose are not an issue.
According to reports, the group of candidates includes Bundesliga coaches Tommy Stroot (VfL Wolfsburg) and Stephan Lerch (TSG Hoffenheim) and Thomas Wörle (SSV Ulm Men), who formerly worked at FC Bayern, as well as the experienced Colin Bell (South Korea), who is now with Eintracht Frankfurt employee, former U16 national coach Friederike Komp and even Jill Ellis, two-time world champion coach of the USA, who currently heads FIFA’s technical study group. However, the 57-year-old does not speak German.
It is essential to look to the future, because the next edition of the Nations League will start in spring 2024, through which qualification for the 2025 European Championship in Switzerland will also take place. Germany must at least finish first or second in the group in the A category in order to qualify directly. This time the DFB team had the easiest of the four top groups. Nevertheless, it took help from strong-character female kickers from Iceland to ensure that the premiere of the new competition did not end in embarrassment. That says it all about a team that still seems deeply unsettled.