2023-11-30 17:53:09
Rostock-Sara Däbritz stirred up emotions once again before what felt like the final game for the Paris ticket.
“The Olympic Games that I was able to experience with the national team will always be in my heart. “They are unforgettable, indescribable,” enthused the 28-year-old about the German footballers’ triumph in Rio de Janeiro in 2016: “Maybe precisely because we had gold.”
Däbritz would like to have an Olympic summer like this again in 2024. Whether interim national coach Horst Hrubesch’s DFB team can even take part in the tournament – the Nations League duel against Denmark this Friday (8.30 p.m./ZDF) in Rostock will be decisive. “We have the quality and are clearly convinced that we will decide the game in our favor, just as we need it,” said Hrubesch in a media round.
The vice-European champions cannot yet secure participation in the Olympics against their neighbors – but they have definitely lost it. “Of course we know that it is a very special game,” said Däbritz, who works at Olympique Lyon.
Only first place counts
The German footballers, who travel to Wales at the end of the preliminary round on December 5th, are only allowed to play for one of the two European Olympic places in the four-team final tournament of the Nations League at the end of February if they are first in the group. In the event of a tie, the direct comparison and then the goal difference decide.
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The backdrop in the Ostseestadion is appropriate for the importance of the game; the DFB has sold 18,350 tickets so far. “We always want to give something back to the fans who come to the stadium for us or watch at home,” said central defender Kathrin Hendrich. The best way to do this is with “convincing football”.
There was no sign of this in the first leg in Denmark, the Germans lost 2-0. That’s why the only thing that helps the DFB team (9 points) is a win with at least a two-goal difference against the group-leading Danes (12) – then they would take the lead before the last matchday and have the urgently needed group victory in their own hands. “Of course the pressure is there too,” said Hendrich from Wolfsburg, “we are aware of the current situation.”
“It’s worth fighting for”
But no one in the German team wants to tense up because of the treacherous starting position. “To play through our game,” demanded Svenja Huth, who also hopes for enthusiasm, fun and an early goal. That would undoubtedly make the difficult mission easier.
Like Däbritz and Alexandra Popp, Huth was part of the gold team in Rio. Hrubesch won silver with the male U21 team. “It’s really a different event. It’s worth fighting for. It’s worth giving everything for it. I hope we can experience this as a team,” said Däbritz. In order for the chance to be retained, a lot of things have to be different in the German game than in the first leg, which assistant coach Britta Carlson was responsible for.
Bayern’s top scorer Lea Schüller and center player Lena Oberdorf from VfL Wolfsburg will be missing this time. However, Munich playmaker Pernille Harder is also missing a key player on the Danish side. “We know we are capable of beating Denmark. “We don’t need to do any miracles or deviate from things that we have rehearsed over the years,” goalkeeper Merle Frohms announced confidently.
Däbritz and Huth remember 2018
The German players did not qualify for the 2021 Olympics because of the botched 2019 World Cup, but with Hrubesch it should work out again this time. Däbritz and Huth recalled 2018, when the HSV legend had already led the German team to a decisive qualifying victory in Iceland. At that time it was about taking part in the World Cup.
The “pressure situation” had already existed, said Däbritz. “Of course that helps, especially in games like this, this experience, but also this calm, so that you don’t get hectic,” said Huth. So that the dream of the Olympics can live on – especially after the World Cup debacle in Australia this summer. Otherwise the DFB women would only have a major tournament appearance again at the 2025 European Championships in Switzerland.
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