At this summer’s World Cup, Germany will be seeking to add another title to their eight European Championship victories as well as their duo of World Cup triumphs, after they lifted the coveted trophy in 2003 and 2007. Only the United States have had their name engraved on the trophy more than Die Nationalelf.
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side secured their spot in France in emphatic fashion only losing 3-2 at the hands of Iceland, who finished as runners-up in group 5. The Germans had no problems finding the back of the net; they slotted home 38 times and only conceded three which were during the Iceland match. 19 of the goals which the side scored in the qualifying campaign came in their matches versus the Faroe Islands, they put them to the sword 11-0 in the initial match then in the reverse fixture fired home eight times without response.
With the amount of squad depth that the side has they are unsurprisingly one of the tournament’s favourites, with 11 of their players having represented their respected club sides on the biggest stage of club football in Europe (4 for Wolfsburg, 5 for Bayern and 2 for champions Lyon).
Germany no doubt made a statement with their squad announcement which was endorsed by their sponsor Commerzbank. It was made to specifically hit back against their generic stereotypes against female footballers. Some of the key quotes taken out of the video were, ‘we play for a country that doesn’t even know our name’ and also ‘we don’t have balls, but we know how to use them!’
The 23-women squad is far from short of experience with seven players having broken the 50 appearance mark. Some of these players include the likes of Wolfsburg’s Almuth Schult, the highest capped player in the squad Lena Goeßling with 104 caps as well as Germany’s eighth highest goalscorer Alexandra Popp.
Popp will be without a doubt a key player for the Germans having a goal average of 0.48 throughout her entire international career. The forward finished fourth highest goal scorer in this season’s Frauen-Bundesliga with 13 goals.
The 21-year-old Lea Schüller was the only German to finish above her in the league after she scored 14 for SGS Essen. The forward has enjoyed the early stages of her time as part of the senior side, having netted 8 goals in the 12 matches she has appeared in; six of those eight coming during World Cup qualification.
Germany will play one final friendly against Chile on Thursday before they face China in their opener on the 6th June in Rennes.
The other two sides that will feature alongside Germany and China in Group B are Spain and World Cup debutants, South Africa.
