The German women's national football team, which has qualified for next summer's World Cup in Brazil, is concluding its plans for the current year with friendly matches against Australia on Friday and Japan on Tuesday. The selection of these opponents has been made deliberately.
Preparation for New Challenges
Christian Wück, the head coach of Germany, stated: "Their style of play is different from what we are used to in Europe. I want to prepare my team for these challenges." He added that these matches will be held at a high level and will challenge his team differently than European teams.
Wück also emphasized that his team has built a "solid foundation" over the past few years and now needs to take the "next step" in its development. Nia Konzer, the sports director, said: "We need to utilize 100 percent of our strengths against top teams to maintain our position in the competitions."
Opportunity for Mahmutovic
While the debate over the selection of the number one goalkeeper for the women's national team is heated, Ena Mahmutovic, the 22-year-old goalkeeper from Bayern Munich, will have the opportunity to showcase her brilliance in these matches. Current goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger will be absent from these games due to competitions in the Women's National League.
Wück said at the pre-match press conference in Karlsruhe: "Ena deserves to play in the next match. We must not forget that she kept a clean sheet in the last World Cup qualifying match against Slovenia, and I hope she can repeat that performance."
Mahmutovic expressed her feelings about these matches: "I am clearly happy. Playing against a team from another continent is always special, and I think testing myself against them will be very beneficial as we move towards the World Cup."
Bayern's manager, Bianca Rech, recently described Mahmutovic as "the future of the national team" and requested Wück not only to call her up to the camp but also to give her regular playing time. Although Wück believes that Berger is slightly better than Mahmutovic, he is satisfied with the young goalkeeper's performance.
