Less than 12 months ago, Germany was the laughing stock of the women’s international game. Favorite to win the 2023 Women’s World Cup, it instead crashed out in the group stages in what was certainly the biggest shock the competition has ever seen. Most embarrassing of all was how obvious the two-time world champion’s flaws were throughout a truly dreadful tournament, the worst in team history.
It's been an eventful year since that shock exit. First, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg was dismissed from her role as head coach in rather unorthodox fashion, leaving the team in the interim charge of Horst Hrubesch for an unusually extensive period. Under the 73-year-old, there have been highs, such as the 2-0 win over the Netherlands that secured a spot at the 2024 Olympics, and lows, like the abysmal 3-0 loss to Iceland just two weeks before the Games got underway.
There have been positives in the team selection, with Giulia Gwinn returning from an ACL injury and Lea Schuller catching fire in front of goal, but enough negatives to balance that out, most notably in the poor form of goalkeeper Merle Frohms and a devastating knee injury that Lena Oberdorf suffered just before the Olympics.
It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, then, since the fatal 1-1 draw with South Korea in Brisbane last August – but at the end of it all, on Thursday, on the opening day of the 2024 Olympic women’s football tournament, no side put on a more impressive performance than the Germans, as they battered Australia 3-0.
Now, with the United States women’s national team up next, the 2016 gold medallist is out to show that last year was simply a blip and that when discussing the big contenders to stand on top of the podium at Paris, Germany should not be overlooked.