Women's European Football Championship 2022: "We are looking forward to the start"


Magazine, 06.07.2022

ERGO is a partner of the German women's national team, which will face Denmark in its first match at the European Football Championship on 8 July. The other German group opponents in England are Spain and Finland. What are the strengths of the German team and how far can it go?

Martina Voss-Tecklenburg

Ms. Voss-Tecklenburg, a European Championship in the motherland of soccer. Is the anticipation already high?

Great atmosphere, great fans. Of course we're looking forward to the start, we're well prepared and have a promising mix of experience, speed, creativity and robustness. If we get all our players healthy and fit on the field now and no one else drops out, a lot is possible. Where we end up will be decided not only by our quality. We also need a bit of luck. One thing's for sure, though: no team will really be thrilled if they have to play us. We want to be a particularly strong collective in England.

What contributes to this strong collective?

Functioning automatisms, for example. They give you security. We've been working on this intensively and with great concentration during our preparation. It's very important that all the players taking part in the European Championship internalise and understand our playing principles. Everyone has to identify with them and work one hundred percent for the common cause. No matter how often, in which position and how long each individual plays, it's important that everyone contributes everything they've got – and perhaps even improves as the tournament progresses.

The European Championship in England seems to be a particularly open tournament...

That's absolutely true. I don't want to name any individual nations. There are maybe seven or eight teams that could make it to the final. And we're one of them. If you want to finish at the top, you have to fully exploit your potential and get into a run of form. Just like the victorious Dutch women did at the last European Championship. As I said, the spirit has to be right. And the fun at a tournament like this has to be there, too. The carefree attitude of the young players and the calmness of the experienced players – it has to fit, it has to form a unit.

Keyword experience. How many European Championships do you look back on?

Wait a minute: So far, I've been to five as a player and one as a coach. So now it's my seventh European Championship. By the way, seven is my lucky number. So it's quite possible that something will happen...

What do you remember most fondly?

The first European Championship title in Germany in 1989 is definitely one of them. That was terrific, because the success came as such a surprise and also triggered a lot of things. It undoubtedly contributed a great deal to the status of women's soccer in Germany and was the initial spark for later successes at the World Cup and Olympic Games.

Ms. Voss-Tecklenburg, good luck in England.

Interview: Lothar Grimm

Successes of the German women's national soccer team
  • World champions: 2003 and 2007
  • European champions: 1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013
  • Olympic Games: Gold 2016, Bronze 2000, 2004 and 2008
Official insurance partner of the German Football Association (DFB)

Since January 2022, ERGO has significantly expanded its cooperation with the German Football Association (DFB) and is the "Official Insurance Partner". ERGO supports both the men's and women's national soccer teams, the U21 team, the DFB Academy and the amateur soccer portal "FUSSBALL.DE".

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