Women's European Football Championship | Denmark becomes a guide for the DFB team

Actually, everything could be going so well for the German national team. They successfully kicked off their European Championship campaign on Friday against Poland with a 2-0 win. A win in their second group match this Tuesday against Denmark could secure the quarterfinals for the German women's team, provided Sweden doesn't lose to Poland in their other Group C match. The tournament couldn't have started better – if it weren't for that annoying "actually."

Despite the strong starting position, several questions still surround national coach Christian Wück 's team. This is primarily due to the medial ligament injury suffered by DFB captain Giulia Gwinn. The 26-year-old right-back from FC Bayern Munich was firmly planned as the leader and stabilizer of the newly formed German defense. Following her injury after just 36 minutes of the match against Poland, Germany will now be without one of its most important players for the remainder of the European Championship.

Germany seeks the right balance

"It's not an individual sport, it's a team sport," playmaker Linda Dallmann explained on Sunday at the German team headquarters in Zurich. Nevertheless, Gwinn's absence is a heavy blow. Unlike in attack, the German squad has significantly fewer options in defense, although Carlotta Wamser did well after coming on for Giulia Gwinn against Poland. The 21-year-old was involved in both of Germany's goals, making a last-minute and second-to-last pass. However, Wamser is a trained striker. Against Denmark, she will have to prove that she can also play at right-back. Or national coach Wück will move reserve center-back Sophia Kleinherne to the right and start with a more defensive formation.

The right balance between attack and defense is the second major issue that continues to concern the DFB women. On the one hand, the German team was very dominant in their first European Championship match, forcing Poland deep into their own half with 70 percent possession and high counter -pressing for long stretches. On the other hand, things became immediately dangerous when the opponents were able to escape the German pressure. Despite having little possession, the Poles managed ten shots on goal. Long balls repeatedly undermined the high German defense. Star striker Ewa Pajor appeared in the German goal several times with plenty of space in front of Ann-Katrin Berger - including in the 36th minute when Giulia Gwinn had to make a sliding tackle to save from Pajor under pressure and twisted her knee in the process.

Another world-class striker awaits against Denmark: Pernille Harder, twice named European Footballer of the Year. Last season, the 32-year-old scored 14 Bundesliga goals for FC Bayern. Stopping her will be one of the key tasks for the German defense. But the Danes are also stronger across the board than Poland. "It's important to look at the whole team and not focus on just one or two," emphasized Germany's left-back Sarai Linder ahead of Tuesday evening's clash in Basel.

Denmark's attacking icon and defensive bulwark

While the German defense can show that it has learned from its scary moments against Poland, the German team's attack will have to contend with Denmark's physical backline. The decisive battles are likely to take place on the wings. Against Poland, Klara Bühl on the left and Jule Brand on the right were still whirling around at will. Both repeatedly cut inside, crossed, or looked to score themselves, as in Brand's wonder goal to make it 1-0. "In my opinion, with Jule and Klara, we have the two best wingers in the tournament," said Linda Dallmann on Sunday, pleased with her teammates' good performance.

Denmark, on the other hand, will likely try to narrow down the wings with a back five, as they did in their first group match against Sweden. However, the Danes can't just sit back. After the 1-0 defeat to Sweden, Pernille Harder and Ko. need to score against Germany to maintain their chance of reaching the quarterfinals. This is another reason why it should be an exciting match at St. Jakob-Park.

Favorite status is at stake

While everything is at stake for Denmark, the German women's soccer team can rest assured that they can be more defensively stable even without captain Gwinn and remain among the top favorites for the European Championship title. This way, the annoying "actually" can be removed from the DFB team's good start to the tournament.