Germany women’s head coach Steffi Jones have named her 23-player squad for the upcoming European Championship in the Netherlands (16th-6th August).Of the provisional 29-player squad, Pauline Bremer (Olympique Lyon), Johanna Elsig (1. FFC Turbine Potsdam) and Lea Schüller (SGS Essen) have all dropped out, while it had already been agreed that both goalkeepers Lisa Schmitz (1. FFC Turbine Potsdam) and Carina Schlüter (SC Sand) would only take part in the pre-tournament preparations to gather experience.
Alexandra Popp will also be missing during the EUROs. The experienced VfL Wolfsburg attacker picked up an injury during training on Wednesday. An MRT scan earlier today on Friday confirmed this initial diagnosis that Popp has suffered a partial tear of her LCL in her left knee and will be out of action for several weeks.
Steffi Jones on Popp’s absence: "It’s a big blow and tough news, especially for Alex. She is an important player for us, but we will pull together as a team and collectively make up for her absence."
Jones: "Short, but intensive preparation"
More from the head coach: "We had a short, but intensive preparation, in which we were able to gather plenty of insight. In the end, we had some very tough decisions, as the quality in our squad is so high. With Pauline and Johanna, there were fine details that were decisive. They have a lot of competition in their position, as we have a very well-balanced, high-performing squad. Lea Schüller is a player with a lot of potential that we have on our radar. The experience at this level has been very important for her."
The most experienced players in the squad are Anja Mittag (153 caps), Babett Peter (106 caps) and Lena Goeßling (93 caps). Meanwhile, for Anna Blässe, Kristin Demann, Carolin Simon, Sara Doorsoun, Linda Dallmann and Hasret Kayikci, this will be a first experience at a major international competition.
Preparations for the EUROs in Heidelberg will come to an end at the end of next week. As part of the preparations, the squad will face Brazil in a friendly on Tuesday in Sandhausen (17:45 CEST). On the 12th July, the team depart for the Netherlands where they face Sweden (17th July), Italy (21st July) and Russia (25th July) in the group stages.
Die Vorbereitung auf die EURO wird mit dem Lehrgang in Heidelberg in der kommenden Woche abgeschlossen. Eingebettet darin ist das Länderspiel gegen Brasilien am Dienstag (ab 17.45 Uhr, live in der ARD) in Sandhausen, Tickets dafür gibt es noch. Die Abreise in die Niederlande ist für den 12. Juli geplant. Dort trifft das Team in der Gruppenphase auf Schweden (17. Juli), Italien (21. Juli) und Russland (25. Juli.).
