By Bart Biesemans
WYONG, Australia (Reuters) – Germany are wary of the threat of Colombian striker Linda Caicedo in their Women’s World Cup Group H clash in Sydney on Sunday but centre back Sara Doorsoun is confident the defence can deal with her.
Teenager Caicedo, who plays her club football for Real Madrid, scored Colombia’s second goal as the South Americans got their tournament off to a winning start with a 2-0 win over South Korea on Tuesday.
Germany were even more impressive on Monday in their opener against Morocco, scoring six goals while keeping a clean sheet, and Doorsoun felt they had enough quality at the back to cope with the threat of the Colombian forwards.
“(Caicedo) is a very robust player, very strong in duels, that is clear to us,” the 31-year-old said at the Germany team camp north of Sydney on Thursday.
“We also have robust players in our ranks and we will not be afraid to go into the duels.
“But we will also need to simply act smart and not to lose our heads, stay completely ourselves in the game.”
Three of Germany’s six goals against Morocco came from corners and Klara Buehl said fans could expect more of the same from the twice world champions against Colombia at the Sydney Football Stadium.
“I think we have an incredibly high quality of set plays and patterns,” the winger said.
“We have also shown in the last few games that we have a lot of potential there … That’s why we just have to keep training it.”
Buehl scored Germany’s fourth goal against the North Africans, steering the ball into the net after one of her crosses had caused chaos in the Moroccan penalty area.
“We have really good headers in the middle,” Buehl said.
“When the ball comes in and there’s three or four players that can’t be contained, then the ball is almost already in the net.
“I’m sure that if we just find the perfect timing, we can score many more goals.”
(Reporting by Bart Biesemans; writing by Nick Mulvenney; editing by Robert Birsel)
