Germany’s gamers anticipated they’d have certified for the knockout spherical by now on the Ladies’s World Cup as a result of, effectively, they often do.
Solely as soon as earlier than has two-time World Cup champion Germany wanted to win its final group sport to advance. The No. 2-ranked Germans play winless South Korea, ranked seventeenth, on Thursday in Brisbane, Australia.
“It’s added stress,” head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg mentioned after Germany’s surprising 2-1 loss to Colombia on Sunday.
Germany hadn’t misplaced a group-stage match on the Ladies’s World Cup in 28 years.
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In 1995, Germany misplaced its second group-stage sport 3-2 to host Sweden. Germany went on to the Ladies’s World Cup remaining that yr, dropping to Norway.
Till encountering Colombia on the Sydney Soccer Stadium, Germany hadn’t misplaced in 20 group-stage matches since.
And now, the stoppage-time header by Colombia’s Manuela Vanegas has the Germans dealing with the opportunity of not qualifying out of the group for the primary time ever.
“The actual fact is we have now to win the final sport. That is all that counts for me proper now,” midfielder Lena Oberdorf mentioned.
Oberdorf, who performed in Germany’s run to the ultimate on the 2022 Euros, understands the stress of big-time video games and acknowledges that this isn’t the place the crew envisaged coming into the match in Australia and New Zealand.
“Now we have turn into so robust as a crew, we simply settle down, concentrate on the final sport after which do a job,” Oberdorf mentioned.
By conceding two objectives to Colombia, the Germans allowed extra objectives in a single match than that they had within the final two Ladies’s World Cup group phases mixed. Germany allowed no objectives in group-stage matches in 2019 and only one in 2015.
For a bunch of gamers not used to dropping on this early a part of the match, it’s much more necessary for Voss-Tecklenburg to deal with feelings and ensure the crew is in the proper mindset shifting ahead.
“Nicely, my job is to be a task mannequin for everyone and say ‘It’s as much as us,’” Voss-Tecklenburg mentioned. “To encourage my gamers, to stick with them, and to help them, to say ‘We’re not going to be divided, and we win collectively, we lose collectively, and that’s what we’ll proceed to do.’”
A rallying cry: Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg speaks with gamers after the Germany vs Colombia match.
After dropping to Sweden within the group stage in 1995, Germany went out and gained 6-1 in opposition to Brazil.
Even with a win in opposition to South Korea, Germany is more likely to end second in Group H. Germany has solely completed second in its group on the Ladies’s World Cup as soon as earlier than, in 1999, when it had a win and two attracts within the group.
If South Korea pulls off a surprising upset, and Morocco wins or attracts in opposition to Colombia, then Germany would end third within the group, with Colombia and Morocco advancing.
Germany opened the match with a 6-0 win over a Moroccan crew making its debut within the match. An 89th-minute equalizer on Sunday evening had many individuals considering Germany had escaped with a draw in opposition to Colombia. That outcome gave even South Korea the slightest of possibilities of advancing regardless of losses to Colombia and Morocco, including extra stress on the German crew.
“Now we have to go all in,” midfielder Lina Magull mentioned. “Now we have to win this sport, and I believe nonetheless now I’m (feeling) very constructive to win this sport.”