A start has been made.
Not everyone expected that it would be so promising and makes things even nicer for the winners.
The German women only played ninety minutes in this tournament, which will continue until the end of the month, but the team, which has recently had to cope with a number of low blows, set a striking exclamation point right away at the start of the European Championship.
In the tricky Group B, which is made up of three ambitious nations, only two of which can make it into the quarter-finals, the DFB selection stormed to the top with a 4-0 win over Denmark.
The first impressions of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg and her staff can rightly be positive before the next duel with title aspirant Spain this Tuesday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ARD and on DAZN).
Great audience interest
The mix seems promising in the squad, which was reorganized due to the lack of personnel and has to compensate for the lack of outstanding personalities such as Melanie Leupolz, who is expecting a child, and Dzsenifer Marozsan, who is out due to a cruciate ligament rupture.
Voss-Tecklenburg's consideration of making up for the loss of individual quality and sophistication with more team spirit paid off at the start of the championship, which attracted considerable spectator interest.
Marina Hegering, Lena Oberdorf and Lina Magull formed the vertical axis, which gave support to those standing by and, with the signal to switch quickly after winning the ball, shifted the action to the wings, where Svenja Huth in particular could hardly be stopped on the right due to her tackle strength and willingness to run and Gaps in the opposing defense tore.
The debut win was worked out in the best sense of the word.
The Germans did not let the temperament of the Danes, which was briefly felt after the kick-off, slow them down in the clarity of their actions, with a willingness to fight for every centimeter of grass, discipline when condensing the spaces and flexibility after winning the ball in pressing, so that they were deservedly rewarded with the three points for their diligence.
In addition, they were able to keep up the pace in the second half, when the national coach made use of the wealth of her personnel options, made five changes and the flow of energy did not dry up;
one of the indications that the training management is right and that there is no lack of commitment from those who inevitably have to be left out in the 23-man squad when choosing the starting lineup.
This aspect of the balance sheet was rightly rated by Voss-Tecklenburg just as highly as the already respectable result.
The now successful demonstration of the (newly unleashed) strength revealed the potential that should cause headaches for the ambitious competition, which in England with half a dozen contenders for the crown is more diverse than ever before.
The eight-time European champion is playing football that is worth seeing again, surprising himself and delighting his fans: the desire for more is awakened.