Entering his first major tournament since taking over as Germany coach last summer, Christian Wück has gone with a good deal of experience in his 23-player squad for the July 2-27 European Championship in Switzerland.
Captain Giulia Gwinn and Bayern Munich teammate Lea Schüller, as well as Sara Däbritz and Kathrin Hendrich, are among 11 players who were part of the Germany team that made the final in England in 2022 — where they finished second after being defeated 2-1 by the hosts.
Also included in the squad is Freiburg’s 20-year-old attacking talent Cora Zicai.
‘Joy, enthusiasm and conviction’
In a statement on the website of the German Football Association, Wück described the squad as “good and balanced” and designed to be able to “find the right solutions for the challenges” of the monthlong tournament.
“We want to play with a mixture of joy, enthusiasm, will and conviction — that’s what this squad stands for. If we manage to do that, we can go very far,” he said.
Wück added that in light of Germany’s last few matches in the Nations League, they were approaching the tournament with a “boost” in self-confidence, but he declined to state a specific goal for his team.
Germany have won their last five Nations League games with little trouble, the most recent being a 6-0 victory over Austria earlier this month.
Rauch and Anyomi left out, Oberdorf remains injured
As expected, defender Felicitas Rauch and Eintracht Frankfurt striker Nicole Anyomi were not included in the 23-player roster. The two had recently caused a bit of controversy by criticizing the national team coach over what they said was a lack of communication with omitted players.
Also absent is Bayern Munich star Lena Oberdorf, who is still recovering from a cruciate ligament injury suffered last July.
Germany, winners of the tournament a record eight times, are up against Poland, Denmark and Sweden in Group C. Their opening match is against Poland in St. Gallen on July 4.
Edited by: Mathias Brück
