Germans talk tough ahead of clash with Colombia

BRISBANE – Two-time champions Germany are determined to overcome their latest injury setback when they take on Colombia at the women’s World Cup on Sunday in search of a place in the knock-out rounds.

Germany beat Morocco 6-0 in their Group H opener, and Colombia also had a winning start 2-0 against South Korea.

“We know what kind of quality we will be facing in Colombia,” Germany coach Martina Viss-Tecklenburg told reporters on Saturday.

“We want to play our game, we want to show our attacking quality and defensive stability. I am really convinced that it will be a tight game, a very attractive game, a very intense game.”

The German camp expects a physical affair against Colombia whose last test before the tournament was abandoned by opponents Ireland because they played “overly physical.”

But Germany playmaker Lina Magull said they are ready for the challenge: “They will probably be close to us all the time. We will take on a certain level of physicality. That is nothing new for us.”

Key midfielder Lena Oberdorf is expected to play again after overcoming a thigh muscle injury that sidelined her for the first game.

Defensive stalwart Marina Hegering remains a doubt after a heel bruise and so does Sjoeke Nüsken, both having also missed the Morocco game.

But there were new injury woes as Voss-Tecklenburg said that left back Felicitas Rauch is out of action for the time being with a sprained knee she sustained in Friday training.

“It wasn’t a good moment in training, the knee was sprained in a blocked shot,” Voss-Tecklenburg said.

“We are still glad that it isn’t an even worse injury. I can not say how long the absence will be.”

Rauch’s absence is painful for the two-time world champions who are also without defenders Giulia Gwinn and Carolin Simon at the tournament, after both ruptured cruciate knee ligaments.

“It is the third defender we are losing through injury. But we will accept this challenge as a team, we also draw energy from it. We help each other even more and we have full faith in every player,” Voss-Tecklenburg said.

Chantal Hagel is a candidate to take the place of Rauch against the Colombians whose coach Nelson Abadia said that their 18-year-old star player Linda Caicedo was fit to play, after collapsing in training earlier in the week.

“Linda is doing fine. It was just an incident which has completely been overcome. Linda is very important for our game,” Abadia said.

“It was an episode of fatigue, a little stress. Such a World Cup has a completely different meaning and completely different demands. She is only 18,” Abadia said.

Caicedo had a similar collapse last year at the Copa America, and at age 15 was also treated for ovarian cancer. The Real Madrid player is Colombia’s top star and scored against South Korea.