A total of 14 VfL Wolfsburg Women players were on international duty over the past few days. While some were able to celebrate booking their ticket to the Olympic Games, for others, dreams were shattered. Meanwhile, one She-Wolf helped her team remain in League A of the UEFA Women’s Nations League.
Endemann makes debut
Eight VfL players were in the Germany squad that went into party mode on Wednesday evening, their 2-0 victory over the Netherlands in Heerenveen securing their place at the Olympic Games in Paris. In Merle Frohms, Kathy Hendrich, Marina Hegering, Lena Oberdorf, Jule Brand and Alexandra Popp, six Green-and-Whites were in the starting line-up, while Vivien Endemann came off the bench in the 85th minute to make her senior international debut. Svenja Huth was an unused substitute. Germany had previously lost their semi-final against France 2-1.
Dutch disappointment
The flip side of Germany’s triumph over the Netherlands was frustration for Dominique Janssen and Lynn Wilms, who were both in the Dutch squad that missed out on Olympic qualification. Janssen started the match, while Wilms came on in the 54th minute. The Netherlands had previously suffered a 3-0 defeat against reigning world champions Spain last Friday.
Jonsdottir scores crucial goal
There was better news for Sveindis Jonsdottir, who scored Iceland’s equaliser in the 75th minute of a 2-1 win over Serbia. Following on from the teams’ 1-1 draw last Friday, it means Iceland won their Nations League play-off to remain in League A.
Friendlies
Three further VfL players were involved in friendly matches with their national teams, including a head-to-head between Riola Xhemaili and Switzerland and Ewa Pajor and Poland. Pajor played up until the 72nd minute of the first encounter on 23 February, but Xhemaili did not feature for her side in a 4-1 victory. Both players started the second game on Tuesday, which Poland won 1-0.
Fenna Kalma also had a successful international break, playing twice for the Netherlands’ U23 side. The forward put her team 1-0 up in a 2-1 win over Denmark on 22 February and was on target again on Monday, finding the net in stoppage time to secure a 1-1 draw against England.
