Lena Petermann and Kathrin Hendrich return to the Germany Women’s National Team squad following spells of injury as the team begins its World Cup qualifying campaign. National Team head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenberg has included the pair in her 24-woman squad for the upcoming fixtures against Bulgaria in Cottbus (18th September, 16:05 CEST) and against Serbia in Chemnitz (21st September, 16:00 CEST). Also returning is Dzsenifer Marozsán, who was recently absent from the squad whilst playing for OL Reign in the USA National Women’s Soccer League.

However, the head coach must contend without several key players: Paulina Krumbiegel (TSG Hoffenheim), Leonie Maier (Everton) and Alexandra Popp (VfL Wolfsburg) are all ruled out due to injury, and Marina Hegering (FC Bayern München), Almuth Schult, Felicitas Rauch (both VfL Wolfsburg) and Nicole Anyomi (Eintracht Frankfurt) are still recovering from their injuries.

Martina Voss-Tecklenberg commented: “We are about to face two teams who like to defend deep and create tight spaces. To counter this, we will need to play fast-paced and precise football to break these teams down and get our World Cup qualifying campaign off to a good start.”

The team is not just focusing on qualifying for the 2023 World Cup in New Zealand and Australia but also on the 2022 European Championship in England, which will take place from 6th to 31st July. The National Team head coach added, “We are viewing each of our games from now as an opportunity to prepare for the European Championship as we are also concentrating on next summer’s competition in England alongside qualifying for the World Cup, which means the fight for a place in the squad has begun.”

The German Women’s National Team have been drawn into World Cup qualifying group H with Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Israel and Portugal. Each of the nine qualifying group winners will advance directly to the finals, and two more spaces will be up for grabs via play-off matches for the second-placed teams from each group.

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(DFB)