DFB Women win final World Cup qualifier in Slovenia and give Wück a birthday gift

Among others, Wück gave goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, who had performed strongly against Norway, a rest and hinted at Stina Johannes or Ena Mahmutovic. Marie Müller, who had celebrated her debut with a goal against Norway, was also not set to return to the starting lineup immediately. Wück explained this in measured terms: 'Ich habe sie erst mal in Ruhe gelassen.' The 26-year-old Janina Minge returned to the squad after her red-card suspension and led the team out as captain, as the regular skipper Giulia Gwinn continues to be sidelined following shoulder surgery.

Rotation approach and Minge's return

Ahead of the match, Wück addressed the 0-0 draw from the first leg in Austria once more on Sportschau: 'Wir haben beim 0:0 in Österreich gemerkt, daß wir gegen 'kleinere' Nationen schon das ein oder andere Problem auf dem Platz hatten, das wir nicht lösen konnten.' Looking ahead to the late kick-off on Tuesday, Wück said: 'Es wird, egal welche Mannschaft auf dem Platz stehen wird, eine Bewährungsprobe werden - weil wir uns einfach weiter entwickeln müssen im Hinblick auf unsere Zukunft.' The squad itself wanted to use this final fixture before the summer break as a dress rehearsal, as Minge put it: 'Wir wollen natürlich bestätigen, was wir in dieser WM-Quali schon gezeigt haben. Wir wollen mit einem positiven Gefühl in die Sommerpause gehen.'

Minge did not rule out that things could get uncomfortable against the bottom-placed side: 'Es ist auch mal angenehm, so ein Spiel zu haben.' Indeed, the DFB women had not always found things easy in this qualifying round: following the disappointing 0:0 in Austria and a largely difficult match against Norway, Wück's team had won the reverse fixture against Slovenia in Dresden by a clear 5:0. In the end, they finished top of the group, which secured early World Cup qualification. In retrospect, Wück even interpreted the goalless draw in Austria positively: 'Wir sind die Treppenstufe wieder hochgegangen, die wir in Österreich runtergefallen sind.' The match had, in hindsight, been a 'Reinigungsergebnis.'

Outlook on World Cup preparation

For the coming months, Wück announced that the focus would no longer be on qualification: 'Es geht nicht mehr um die WM-Quali. Aber wir wollen natürlich trotzdem das Spiel gewinnen, das sollte auch unser Anspruch sein.' At the same time, the national team coach acknowledged that his team was still missing several pieces: 'Ich glaube, es fehlt noch sehr viel.' The aim is to significantly close the gap to the world's top teams by the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. The German team is a two-time world champion and won Olympic gold in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. Defender Kathrin Hendrich pointed to the depth in the squad: the team possesses 'eine enorme Qualität' in terms of breadth.

Further tests are planned for the autumn: Wück intends to schedule international matches against teams from South America, Africa or Asia in order to gain experience against non-European opponents. On Tuesday evening in Ljubljana, however, with temperatures of 27 degrees at Monday evening's final training session, there was initially just one thing that mattered: a victory to close out the campaign. The international match evening gave Wück, who according to reports was celebrating his birthday on Tuesday, a fitting gift - and the team a conciliatory send-off into the summer break.

Doping proceedings involving Laura Freigang

Laura Freigang was not involved. According to information from the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), the 28-year-old, who captains Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, was unavailable at her reported whereabouts for a doping control on three occasions within a twelve-month period. The DFB Anti-Doping Commission is reviewing the case. Freigang explained via Instagram that the missed controls had not been intentionally avoided but were down to discrepancies in the day- and hour-precise whereabouts information that must be maintained: 'Bei den verpassten Kontrollen handelt es sich nicht um bewusst vermiedene Kontrolltermine, sondern um Unstimmigkeiten bzw. Missverständnisse in den täglich zu aktualisierenden und umfassenden Angaben, die wir als Nationalspielerinnen tages- und stundenaktuell im System zu aktualisieren haben.' Under NADA rules, three missed controls within a year typically carry a two-year ban for violation of whereabouts requirements. Wück did not nominate Freigang for the match in Slovenia.