Giulia Gwinn from FC Bayern Munich will lead the German footballers against Austria as captain. However, national coach Hrubesch has to do without Sara Däbritz.
The 24-year-old Gwinn will represent the injured regular captain Alexandra Popp from VfL Wolfsburg in the European Championship qualifier this Friday (04/05/2024, 8:30 p.m./live on Erste) in Linz and on Tuesday in Aachen against Iceland, as a DFB spokeswoman said on announced Thursday.
Popp’s previous deputy, Svenja Huth, recently resigned from the national team. Despite suffering two cruciate ligament tears in recent years, Gwinn has already played 41 international matches and is one of the most important regulars as a right-back. The deputy captain is now the future Munich player Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg), who at 22 years old plays a key role in the DFB women.
European Championship qualification, 1st group match day arrow right
Gwinn: “Wants to take responsibility”
Gwinn made her fundamental demands for a leadership role clear in an interview with the Bayern club magazine last week: “I want to take responsibility and embody that,” she said. “If you duck away, you don’t achieve anything.”
After the defeat in the Nations League semi-finals in France, she publicly spoke of “scaredy football”. “I think it’s part of it to put your finger in the wound,” she said later.
Däbritz is out of qualifying for the European Championship
Sara Däbritz will be missing from the two European Championship qualifiers. The 29-year-old left early due to an adductor strain, the DFB announced.
The national coach nominated Elisa Senß from Bayer Leverkusen to replace the midfielder from Olympique Lyon. Senß initially did not travel to the national team as planned due to illness, but has now recovered. She is expected at the team hotel in Hagenberg on Thursday evening.