The U16 women's national team took part in the European Cup in Budapest (HUN) last weekend. The German Young Talent team played in Group A against the teams from the Czech Republic, France and Norway. In the final placement game against Austria, the Young Talent team was able to secure seventh place.
The tournament history of the German U16 women’s national team:
The DEB-The selection led by U18 national coach Franziska Busch struggled to find its way into the tournament at the beginning. The players' longer break from training and playing was noticeable, meaning that the usual rhythm of the game could only be established over the course of the weekend.
Germany – Norway:
In the first group game against Norway, things were very slow for the German team and the many small mistakes prevented the game from going well. The U16 team first had to find its way into the game and was too harmless offensively, which resulted in a 0-2 opening defeat.
Germany – France:
The team got into the game better from the start against France. The players were able to implement the coaching team's instructions better and keep the pace higher. But here too, the U16 women's national team still failed to score. In the end the game went narrowly 0-1 to the French.
Czech Republic – Germany:
That was in the last group game against the Czech Republic DEB-Team was present from minute one and was able to physically defend against it. The team had now arrived mentally and physically in the tournament, which also resulted in their first goals. From a German perspective, the result was a bit too high at 2:6.
Germany, Austria:
The momentum from the game against the Czech Republic was carried over into the placement game against Austria. Despite a difficult start with a lot of outnumbered play and a 0-1 deficit, the team never gave up. With an absolute will to win, the team fought its way to a deserved 2-1 win and thus achieved seventh place in the tournament.
Participation in the European Cup in Hungary was a valuable experience, both for the players and the staff. Tactically, the team improved from game to game and was able to implement the coaches' instructions better and better. The creation of scoring chances and thus putting more pressure on the opposing team needs to be improved in the future - this can be taken away as one of the lessons learned from the tournament.
U18 national coach Franziska Busch: “Overall, we are not satisfied with the results. It was particularly annoying against opponents like Norway and France that we didn't manage to live up to our potential. Even in games like this we have to be 100% ready from the start. But the team showed morale and wanted to win the placement game, so they never let up towards the end and deserved to win. The tournament showed how the European U16 women’s division has developed both playfully and physically and what we need to continue to work hard on in order to assert ourselves and be competitive.”
The schedule of the German U16 women's national team:
19.04.2023 | Germany – Norway 0:2
20.04.2023 | Germany – France 0:1
April 22.04.2023, XNUMX | Czech Republic - Germany 6:2 (Goals: Wintgen, Seyrer)
April 23.04.2023, XNUMX | Placement game Germany – Austria 2:1 nP (goals: Wintgen, Thume)