The Germany Women will begin their preparations for the Olympic Games in Rio (3rd-20th August 2016) with a 26-strong squad. Head coach Silvia Neid’s team will start the first of four training camps before travelling to Brazil on 29th July in Grassau am Chiemsee on 20th June. There are six players in the squad who won Bronze at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in the form of captain Saskia Bartusiak, Annike Krahn, Babett Peter, Melanie Behringer, Simone Laudehr and Anja Mittag. Two players who could not be included in the squad are Leno Lotzen, who is still in recovery training following injury, and Anna Blässe, who turned down a call-up due to health reasons.
“After a long and demanding season, the players should enjoy their holidays, switch off and recharge the batteries for now,” said Silvia Neid. “They will then work on individual training plans before we join up in Grassau. We want to prepare for the Olympics with great intensity and focus, as a very difficult challenge physically speaking await us, with games close together and only a squad of 18 at our disposal. However, we will embrace the challenge, as the Olympics are something very special for every sportsperson and we’re all very much looking forward to them.”
Final squad to be announced on 18th July
Silvia Neid will name her definitive squad for Rio 2016 of 16 outfield players and two goalkeepers on 18th July. Alongside the 18 players called up, there will also be four on stand-by who will also travel with the team and can join the squad in case injury rules anyone out of participation at the tournament.
“It of course won’t be an easy task to pick 18 players to go to Rio out of this group of 26,” said the Germany coach. “Alongside their performances in training, I will also assess the versatility of each player to help me make my decision. With us only allowed to take 16 outfield players, it will come down to looking at what kinds of different skills the players have, so that we can be as flexible as possible.”
The DFB Women’s final international game before travelling to Brazil will be on 22nd July in Paderborn. The opponents for that match will be announced soon. The Olympics then begin on 3rd August in Sao Paulo against Zimbabwe, before further group games against Australia on 6th August, also in Sao Paulo, and then Canada in Brasilia on 9th August.