Women

Kick-off at the Olympics

Eight She-Wolves are hunting for glory with Germany.

Who is involved?

Eight VfL Wolfsburg players have been included in Germany’s 18-strong squad. Merle Frohms, Marina Hegering, Kathrin Hendrich, Sarai Linder, Jule Brand, Vivien Endemann and Alexandra Popp were named in the original selection, while new signing Janina Minge – who was initially named on standby – has been called up as a replacement for injured former She-Wolf Lena Oberdorf. Germany arrived in Marseille on Sunday evening and are now in the process of fine-tuning their preparations for their opening game against Australia, with their final training session taking place at 17:00 CEST on Wednesday.

Fist up: Australia

Germany last faced the ‘Matildas’ in April 2021, cruising to a 5-2 victory in a friendly in Wiesbaden. Brand made her international debut that day, marking the occasion with her team’s third goal (63’) shortly after entering the fray in the 59th minute. Germany have won three of their five meetings with Australia, drawing one and losing the other. The two sides have faced each other twice at the Olympic Games, with Germany triumphing 3-0 in 2000 before a 2-2 draw in 2016, when Silvia Neid’s team went on to claim gold.

Horst Hrubesch’s current ensemble will also take on the USA and Zambia in this year’s group stage. Germany have faced the Americans on 37 occasions (W6 D7 L24), while their only previous game against Zambia in a friendly last year ended in a narrow 3-2 defeat.

Germany’s fixtures at a glance (Olympic Football Tournament | Group B):

  • Thursday 25 July (Kick-off 19:00 CEST): Germany – Australia
     
  • Sunday 28 July (Kick-off 21:00 CEST): USA – Germany
     
  • Wednesday 31 July (Kick-off 19:00 CEST): Zambia – Germany