German coach curious about Vietnam women's defense ability

German women's team coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg is looking forward to seeing how the Vietnamese women's team will play defensively in the friendly match tonight, June 24.

German women's team coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. Photo: DPA

Coach Voss-Tecklenburg assessed Vietnam as a disciplined team that has adapted to the European environment through three friendly matches. "They will try to challenge us with their tight defense," the 55-year-old coach said at a press conference before the match on the evening of June 23. "I am curious to see how they deploy."

Voss-Tecklenburg believes Vietnam will play with three or five centre-backs, combined with long balls. Against a physically smaller opponent, Germany wants to control the match but is not focused on the result, as the team has only been together since June 21 and has not had much time to practice. "We try to win but that is not the biggest goal," said the German women's coach. "We will accept mistakes at a higher level than usual."

Germany is ranked second in FIFA, 30 places above Vietnam, but the gap in skill level is different. Germany won the World Cup twice in 2003 and 2007, won the Olympic gold medal in 2016 and won the Euro eight times. However, in the last three World Cups, the team's best result was fourth place in 2015. At Euro 2022, Germany lost 1-2 to England after extra time in the final.

Captain striker Alexandra Popp (No. 11) is the most notable star on the German women's team. Photo: Imago

Germany will host Vietnam at Bieberer Berg Stadium in Offenbach at 6:15 p.m. local time, or 11:15 p.m. Hanoi time today, June 24. In the last three friendly matches, Germany drew 0-0 with Sweden, beat the Netherlands 1-0 and lost 1-2 to Brazil.

Vietnam will be without captain Huynh Nhu due to injury. Meanwhile, Germany will not use the Bayern Munich group of players because they have only gathered for one day. Therefore, the world's second-ranked team will be without strikers Lea Schuller - who scored 30 goals in 46 matches and Klara Buhl - who scored 14 goals in 34 matches for Germany, in addition to midfielder Lina Magull, defenders Carolin Simon and Sydney Lohmann.

The most notable name on the German women's team is captain striker Alexandre Popp, who has scored 61 goals in 127 matches and was named in the IFFHS World Team of the Year for 2020 and 2022. "We are a real team that plays beautiful football with passion," said the 32-year-old striker.

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