(Reuters) – Forward Lea Schuller said she is confident two-time champions Germany can learn from the setbacks they faced at the last Women’s World Cup and European Championship as they aim to make a deep run at the showpiece event in Australia and New Zealand this month.
Germany dominated every European Championship from 1995 to 2013 with a record eight crowns, having also won consecutive World Cups in 2003 and 2007.
But their last international title, apart from an Olympic gold in 2016, is now a decade old, and their 2022 runner-up spot to England at the European Championship is their best result since 2013.
“I think after the European Championships we need to show that we aren’t just top in Europe, but in the whole world. I think that we can do it,” Schuller, who plays for Bayern Munich in the Frauen-Bundesliga, said in an interview posted on FIFA’s website.
The Germans, who reached the quarter-finals at the 2019 World Cup, have been drawn to face South Korea, Morocco and Colombia in the group phase, and Schuller is optimistic that her team can overcome all of their opponents.
“I think we can still beat all the teams… The best we can do is to think from game to game, like we did in the European Championships. That helped us, so because of that, I’m looking forward to the first games,” she said.
When asked about captain and two-time German footballer of the year Alexandra Popp, Schuller said she would like to play alongside her more.
“We both play in the same position. And then it’s just like I’m usually substituted for her or the other way around,” Schuller added.
“She’s someone who can get the whole team behind her, so to speak. When she runs forward, then it does something to the team. Or when she runs and somehow gets the ball, that’s what makes a leader.”
Germany will kick off their Group H campaign against Morocco on July 24.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed)
