No.1 ranked Germans expect difficult match against speedy Team Thailand

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/06/2015 (4056 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The top-ranked team in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup arrived in Winnipeg in good spirits Friday, leading Group B and favoured to be a big threat once elimination games begin next weekend.

German defenders Leonie Maier and Tabea Kemme met with reporters Saturday afternoon, all smiles and in good humour, but suggested their team will be all business when it’s time for Monday’s final game of Group B, a 3 p.m. start at Investors Group Field against Thailand.

Germany has four points (1-0-1) through two matches, including Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Norway that surprised many. Norway also has four points but Germany is ahead in goal differential.

Thailand has a win and a loss so far, for three points, so the Germans cannot treat Monday’s match like a foregone conclusion

“They’re pretty small but fast and good technically,” Maier said Saturday, through an interpreter at the press conference. “Obviously they’ll give 100 per cent because they’re playing against Germany and because with their last match, they have a good chance to go (to the next round).”

Though Germany had the better of Norway for most of Thursday’s encounter in Ottawa, the Norwegians tied the game in the second half with a free kick, and Germany couldn’t snap the deadlock.

“The first half was a good match, especially defensively,” said Maier, a 22-year-old from Stuttgart who plays for FC Bayern Munchen. “We managed to control Norway. It would have been better if we had been able to score one more goal in the first half.

“In the second half, we gave the Norwegians more room. We didn’t manage as well over 90 minutes and we didn’t score another goal.”

The Germans arrived in Winnipeg continuing to pick up good impressions of Canada.

“We had a nice reception at the hotel,” Maier said. “I really liked Ottawa. We had a really warm welcome. That was very unexpected, that there were a lot of people on the streets that talked to us.”

Kemme, the 23-year-old from Stade who plays regularly for FFC Turbine Potsdam, said the experience has been mostly positive so far.

“Canadians are very welcoming and sympathetic and interested in the World Cup,” she said. “I’ve already learned to love Canada in the one and a half weeks I’ve been here.”

Against the 11th-ranked Norwegians, the Germans were favoured. They will be more so against 29th-ranked Thailand Monday, when the weather is projected to be considerably cooler (maybe 17 C) than it’s been in either Ottawa or Winnipeg since the tournament began.

“(The heat) has a big influence,” Kimme said. “There’s a big difference between 28 and 20, especially on turf. We’ll be thankful if it’s colder.”

The matter of the World Cup being played on turf, however, was no issue for either player, they said.

“It’s definitely a challenge with the turf, but it’s a challenge we willingly accept and look forward to,” Kemme said.

If the Germans take Monday’s match and finish atop Group B as expected, they’ll be headed back to Ottawa for their first knockout game.

It would be against one of the third-place teams that advances — Sweden is one possibility.

“I don’t think about who we’ll play; it makes me more nervous,” Kimme smiled.

“It’s more important that the team plays well,” Maier said.

Saturday, a reporter asked Maier about a recent comment from veteran teammate Anja Mittag, who said she wouldn’t want to play against Maier because she’s like a terrier.

Maier — whose given name means “Lion” — laughed and accepted the compliment.

“I’m a fighter on the pitch,” she beamed. “I try to give 100 per cent and I run as long as I can.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca