Spain examines its candidacy before one of its 'ogres'

Spain examines its candidacy before one of its 'ogres'

Jorge Vilda's team take on Germany, whom they have never beaten, in their second EURO match

MADRID, 11 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

This Tuesday (9:00 p.m./La1), the Spanish women's soccer team will have its first major exam at the European Championship in England with its long-awaited duel against one of the favourites, Germany, a rival they have not been able to beat in their history and against which he hopes to demonstrate the potential of his candidacy.

Spain forgot all its vicissitudes prior to the start of the tournament, marked by the serious injury of Alexia Putellas, its great reference, and opened last Friday with a positive 4-1 win against Finland to add three almost 'forced' points. The reaction to the hard blow of the rival's early goal and the game offered were the best news for a team that now expects many more complications.

And it is that in front will be the always fearsome and competitive Germany, which also came to England with some doubts and with significant casualties, but which was devastating against Denmark, current runner-up and from which it avenged the elimination of 2017 with a resounding 4 -0, a real warning of his ability to grow on the big stages.

The team led by Jorge Vilda has never beaten the Germans. He was very close to breaking that statistic a few months ago in the Arnold Clark Cup, where a mistake in the final minutes allowed Martina Voss-Tecklenburg's team to tie through Lea Schueller, precisely absent for this duel due to the coronavirus, putting an end in addition to the unbeaten streak of the Spanish goal.

So, the eight-time European champion did not have a good part of her figures, but she was able to compete and survive to remain undefeated against the 'Red' in six matches, half with wins. However, it is clear that the team has shortened the distance with this rival, with whom they have only lost one of their last three matches, although it was the official of the group stage of the 2019 World Cup in France, resolved by 1 -0 despite the fact that it was dominated for many minutes.

Spain knows that getting this victory would be a boost, in addition to virtually certifying the pass to the quarterfinals before the final match against the Danes. The internationals will want to show their hunger and their jump, but they will not be able to have some of the imbalances that they had in the debut because Germany has already shown that they do not forgive a bad day.

Jorge Vilda will have to resolve any doubts he may have to decide on the eleven that could do the most damage to the double world champion. Against Finland he opted for Irene Guerrero to fill the gap for Alexia Putellas and now he must decide if he repeats with the new Atlético de Madrid player or tries another alternative.

The option of lowering Mariona Caldentey to accompany Patri Guijarro and a superlative Aitana Bonmatí is one of them, but he could also think about giving more strength to that area and putting Laia Aleixandri as a midfielder as he did in the final stretch of the first match and give more freedom to the Balearic Islands. The coach could also introduce some novelty in the offensive part, although Lucia García scored a goal and in the Arnold Clark Cup he was one of the most dangerous.

"When Germany and Spain meet, two giants do it. We know the qualities of Spain, especially in possession or individual quality, but we have to be just as good in evaluating our strengths," Felicitas Rauch warned the UEFA website.

For their part, Germany would probably prefer to let Spain take more control and try to pressure them to steal and launch quick transitions with their players up, taking advantage of the risks that the Spanish team usually take with their defense very advanced.

After leaving doubts in this year 2022, where she was not able to win any of her Arnold Clark Cup matches and lost in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup against Serbia, the number five in the world ranking has scored eleven goals without conceding in her two last games to warn that she should not be ruled out despite the fact that she has relevant casualties such as those of Dzsenfier Marozsán, also due to a broken crusader, and Melanie Leupolz, who announced her pregnancy. Voss-Tecklenburg looks set to repeat his opening eleven with veteran Alexander Popp in place of Schueller.

ALEMANIA: Frohms; Gwinn, Hegering, Hendrich, Rauch; Oberdorf, Magull, Daebritz; Huth, Buehl y Popp.

SPAIN: Sandra Paños; Ona Batlle, Irene Paredes, Mapi León, Leila Ouahabi; Aitana Bonmati, Laia Aleixandri, Patri Guijarro; Lucía García, Esther González and Mariona Caldentey.

--ARBITRATOR: Stéphanie Frappart (FRA).

--ESTADIO: Brentford Community Stadium.

--TIME: 21.00/La1.