The DFB U17 women have completed their final preparatory training camp ahead of the U17 World Cup in Jordan (30th September to 21st October). “We had a few intense days and put on the finishing touches ahead of the World Cup,” said DFB coach Anouschka Bernhard.
There was a friendly as well as team building exercises following the training sessions. “We have tuned ourselves in for Jordan and watched a film about the country,” explained Bernhard. “You can feel the anticipation ahead of the World Cup, the excitement is slowly setting in. We are counting down the days until our departure.” The U17 team will fly to Jordan from Frankfurt on 25th September.
21 strong squad to travel to Jordan
The final World Cup squad is 21 strong and will be lead by SC Freiburg midfielders Janina Minge and Giulia Gwinn. Minge has played 22 matches for the U17s, scoring ten goals while Gwinn has made 23 appearances hitting the back of the net six times. “We have pretty much the complete European Championship squad with us,” said Anouschka Bernhard.
“The squad has a good mix of younger and older players, both experienced and inexperienced players as well as louder and quieter players,” said the coach “We have a lot of different people in the team, which marks this squad out.” The youngest player in the squad is 14-year-old Lena Sophie Oberdorf from TSG Sprockhövel, who is with the U17s for the first time.
Going to World Cup as European Champions
The fact that the team can play at a high level is already proven, as they won the European U17 Championship in Belarus after beating Spain in the final. It was the Germany women’s fifth title after their triumphs in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013. 17 members of the Germany squad called up for the World Cup were members of the squad that won in Belarus, including Fritz-Walter bronze medal winner Tanja Pawollek from 1. FFC Frankfurt.
Anouschka Bernhard’s team want to stay in the competition until the very end in Jordan: “We will obviously be aiming to win the cup. It would be strange if the current European Champions didn’t go to the tournament with that as the aim,” said the DFB coach. “We obviously know that it will be a difficult tournament.” Germany will face South American Champions Venezuela, Canada and Cameroon, who are making their first World Cup appearance. “They are very strong opponents,” commented Bernhard. The final will be played on 21st October in Amman.