The Germany women’s national team have been knocked out of the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand after the group stages for the first time ever. The 1-1 draw against South Korea in the final group game was only enough to leave Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s team in third place in their group – leaving them eliminated and facing a premature trip home. After the game, the national team coach spoke about the early exit and the reasons behind it.
DFB.de: This is the first group-stage exit for the DFB-Frauen at a World Cup. Is there an explanation for this?
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg: We didn’t play our game as we would’ve wanted to. Towards the end we put in a lot of effort, but we weren’t able to find a second goal to make it 2-1. We have to accept the responsibility. However, it is fully clear that I need to let things sink in and have some conversations first.
DFB.de: What was lacking for the team at this World Cup?
Voss-Tecklenburg: Certain things were missing in the game today. We aren’t only disappointed by elimination but are also all frustrated because we had different aspirations. We have to face up to this because there are no two ways about it. It is difficult to immediately think about whether we were maybe too cautious during certain processes. We also had injuries, but I don’t want to look for excuses.
DFB.de: In which regard were you overly cautious?
Voss-Tecklenburg: Over the course of the last six months we have been overly cautious in managing a lot of the players’ game time. Perhaps we have to change some things in this regard. We need to collectively look into how we can get things going in the right direction again. This is a historically poor result. This means that we need to carry out a constructive and objective reappraisal across the board.
DFB.de: Did you ever consider this worst case scenario in the build-up?
Voss-Tecklenburg: It wasn’t something that we spoke about. We have to look at ourselves rather than watching what is going on in the other games. We had it in our own hands. We didn’t manage to get the points needed to advance from our group.
DFB.de: How are you now handling things with the team?
Voss-Tecklenburg: There are players who perhaps want to be together, but there are others who need some time to themselves and to possibly take out their frustration in some way. We will all have a good look at ourselves, come together and discuss the necessary things. It certainly won’t be loud. We will try to stand by each other’s side and lend our support to the players. That is all that we can do.
DFB.de: Which mistakes do you hold yourself accountable for?
Voss-Tecklenburg: I can’t give any insight into that yet. We prepared ourselves based on our best knowledge. We also felt well prepared in terms of our game plan. At the end of the day we are all responsible and I include myself within that. In hindsight you can philosophise about certain things without knowing if things would have gone any better as a result.
DFB.de: The men, the U21s and the women’s team have all crashed out in the group stages. How do you assess the current state of German football?
Voss-Tecklenburg: You can’t deny that this is a debacle and a disaster in sporting terms if you want look at things in that way. We are neither going to stop playing football now nor stop loving this sport. There are also currently no far reaching studies on this matter. We need to come to terms with this and let things sink in.
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The Germany women’s national team have been knocked out of the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand after the group stages for the first time ever. The 1-1 draw against South Korea in the final group game was only enough to leave Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s team in third place in their group – leaving them eliminated and facing a premature trip home. After the game, the national team coach spoke about the early exit and the reasons behind it.
DFB.de: This is the first group-stage exit for the DFB-Frauen at a World Cup. Is there an explanation for this?
Martina Voss-Tecklenburg: We didn’t play our game as we would’ve wanted to. Towards the end we put in a lot of effort, but we weren’t able to find a second goal to make it 2-1. We have to accept the responsibility. However, it is fully clear that I need to let things sink in and have some conversations first.
DFB.de: What was lacking for the team at this World Cup?
Voss-Tecklenburg: Certain things were missing in the game today. We aren’t only disappointed by elimination but are also all frustrated because we had different aspirations. We have to face up to this because there are no two ways about it. It is difficult to immediately think about whether we were maybe too cautious during certain processes. We also had injuries, but I don’t want to look for excuses.
DFB.de: In which regard were you overly cautious?
Voss-Tecklenburg: Over the course of the last six months we have been overly cautious in managing a lot of the players’ game time. Perhaps we have to change some things in this regard. We need to collectively look into how we can get things going in the right direction again. This is a historically poor result. This means that we need to carry out a constructive and objective reappraisal across the board.
DFB.de: Did you ever consider this worst case scenario in the build-up?
Voss-Tecklenburg: It wasn’t something that we spoke about. We have to look at ourselves rather than watching what is going on in the other games. We had it in our own hands. We didn’t manage to get the points needed to advance from our group.
DFB.de: How are you now handling things with the team?
Voss-Tecklenburg: There are players who perhaps want to be together, but there are others who need some time to themselves and to possibly take out their frustration in some way. We will all have a good look at ourselves, come together and discuss the necessary things. It certainly won’t be loud. We will try to stand by each other’s side and lend our support to the players. That is all that we can do.
DFB.de: Which mistakes do you hold yourself accountable for?
Voss-Tecklenburg: I can’t give any insight into that yet. We prepared ourselves based on our best knowledge. We also felt well prepared in terms of our game plan. At the end of the day we are all responsible and I include myself within that. In hindsight you can philosophise about certain things without knowing if things would have gone any better as a result.
DFB.de: The men, the U21s and the women’s team have all crashed out in the group stages. How do you assess the current state of German football?
Voss-Tecklenburg: You can’t deny that this is a debacle and a disaster in sporting terms if you want look at things in that way. We are neither going to stop playing football now nor stop loving this sport. There are also currently no far reaching studies on this matter. We need to come to terms with this and let things sink in.
