So far, the European Championship has not offered an opportunity to get an impression of Laura Freigang's footballing class.

That could change in the third group game of the Germans.

Anyone who weighs up the hints from Martina Voss-Tecklenburg before the encounter with Finland this Saturday (9 p.m., in the FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ZDF and on DAZN) comes to the obvious conclusion that the national coach is aware of the choice that the squad offers her, will make use of more extensively than before in these English summer days.

Marc Heinrich

sports editor.

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Freigang could also make her debut at this tournament, although the Frankfurt player has already played a major role as a substitute, as was widely heard.

"Lena screams her heart out"

It was not surprising that the 24-year-old was hoarse after the group games against Denmark and Spain, both of which were won.

The forward-on-hold made her vocal contribution from the touchline to present the football team in a passionate state that saw them deliver athletic performances that were beyond reproach.

Colleague Lena Lattwein from VfL Wolfsburg said it was remarkable how Freigang lived out the support formulated as a project at the beginning of her stay on the island: "Lena screams her heart out," said Lattwein, who also reported that a everyone in the DFB selection sees an inner conviction that they are obliged to verbally push the eleven on the pitch with extra energy: "The job is to be just as broken afterwards as the team that was on the pitch for ninety minutes."

Lattwein's goal premiere

Lattwein, who is also hoping for a place in the starting line-up against the Scandinavians for the first time, replaced Sara Däbritz in defensive midfield after an hour against Denmark and scored shortly afterwards to make it 3-0 – her first goal in her 18th international match.

It is not only in their perception that "the level that comes from the bank is a breath of fresh air".

Alexandra Popp, too, promptly scored her first goal in the European Championship after she had initially been watching from the outside, after she had been ordered into the striker in the final phase of the overture by Voss-Tecklenburg.

In terms of breadth and depth, there is currently hardly a competitor that can outperform the Germans.

And that should continue.

"We want to play a perfect group phase and we want to finish the preliminary round without conceding a goal," emphasized Linda Dallmann from Munich.

No unnecessary risk

The defensive all-rounders Lena Oberdorf and Felicitas Rauch, who have been suspended from Wolfsburg, will definitely be missing in Milton Keynes.

Lea Schüller from Munich, who announced on Monday that she had Corona, is hoping to return in the coming days.

Voss-Tecklenburg, as the past has taught, will also be more careful with their club colleagues Lina Magull and Sydney Lohmann, who complain of muscular complaints, than taking unnecessary risks.

"Resilience"

The national coach, who was able to establish that the tactical means were all "chosen correctly" and her team "showed what they are capable of", also emphasized with satisfaction that "a spirit" had developed, a special one entails "resilience".

The Germans seem extremely fit, which also has something to do with the individual load control in the training sessions.

Every morning before breakfast, the players have to use an app to assess their personal well-being: how long and how well they slept, how their muscles feel or whether they have any aches and pains.

"Joy of Defending"

All details are taken into account by the supervisory staff in preparation for upcoming tasks.

"Anyone who steps onto the pitch with us is 100 percent fit," says defender Sophia Kleinherne, who (for Rauch) will presumably be included in the starting XI against Finland as the left link in the back four.

For the Frankfurter, the “joy of defending” is one of the fundamental advantages of the Germans, along with the “living bank”: “We stand together as a unit and want to perform to the maximum.

With us, nobody is too bad to go the last meter,” says the 22-year-old.

It is also a strength that they were not included in the group of favorites beforehand and the greatest pressure is now that which “we put on ourselves”.

The fact that they gain energy from the tension and that it is in no way a hindrance can be felt, said Kleinherne, whose prognosis was no less full of self-confidence: "Our goal is the title."