Brought together though song and paint, Germany’s togetherness trumps a lack of superstars.
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Germany started their campaign with an impressive win against Venezuela
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Team cohesion is an important aspect to their success
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The side shares close bonds both on and off the pitch
When you asked the German players or coach ahead of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ who the team’s key player was, you never got a clear answer.
“Each of us brings her own qualities,” Lisa Baum told FIFA in the lead-up to Colombia 2024™. Her teammate Jella Veit echoed those sentiments: “We don’t have any superstars in our team. Each of us is of course special and strong in her own way.”
Even coach Kathrin Peter did not give a clear answer to the question before the tournament started and posited the team as a whole, as her squad’s primary feature. “We have a lot of talent and many players with very different weapons. They know what they’re capable of [individually], and they’re able to show everything as a team on the pitch. Even if something goes wrong, there’s a strong mentality to take the game as it is until the end and pull off a comeback.”
They displayed all those qualities in an eye-catching 5-2 opening win against Venezuela. With Marie Steiner, Loreen Bender, Sophie Nachtigall and Cora Zicai, there were four different goal scorers; the goals were set-up by player of the match Sofie Zdebel and Tomke Schneider. Substitutes Baum and Mathilde Janzen also showcased their attacking qualities while overall the team played well defensively. The mentality was also there; after Venezuela’s equaliser, right before the break, they didn’t hesitate, pushed forward and scored immediately.
“Each of us adds something to the team, each of us is really important. We always have a strong mentality and never give up, no matter the score”, Janzen said about the team’s strengths which they exhibited Sunday night in Bogota.
The group’s collective spirit was reflected in an off-the-pitch craft project that they undertook pre-tournament,” as Janzen explained. “We ‘built’ a ship, because we’re on this journey to get the gold and everyone on the team has an oar, each of us painted her own.”
This ship is not the only creative project the German U-20 team have worked on together. They have also recorded their own World Cup song which they play in the dressing room ahead of their games. “For now it remains a secret, but maybe you’ll be able to hear the song later on in the tournament,” Janzen explained.
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It’s easy to see that the players know each other very well. Countless Instagram posts documenting their adventure in Colombia aren’t the only thing proving that the mood in the team is excellent, but you can also feel it when you’re around the players. If they’re able to combine that joy on the pitch and their individual talents in the forthcoming matches as well as they did against Venezuela, Germany will be hard to stop as the tournament unfolds.
