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DFB goalkeeper Almuth Schult
Photo:
Sebastian Gollnow / dpa
The goalkeeper position in the German national team is generally rarely rotated, much to the chagrin of the many talents that exist in this country.
Oliver Kahn used to block this position, then Manuel Neuer.
It was often the same in the women's national team: Nadine Angerer had to line up behind Silke Rottenberg for years, winning four titles without having played.
From 2007 to 2015 it was Angerer who usually wore number one.
Then it was Almuth Schult's turn.
She too had served her years on the bench, having to be patient until she rose to become Germany's top goalkeeper.
In her first major tournament, at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she helped the DFB selection to the gold medal with her saves in the decisive games.
But at this European Championship in England, which begins for the German national team in the evening with the opening game against Denmark (9 p.m. / TV: ZDF), Schult will not be in goal.
Instead, Merle Frohms has been number one since 2019. At the 2019 World Cup, which ended with Germany being eliminated in the quarter-finals, Schult struggled with shoulder problems.
Then she had an operation.
A longer break followed: Schult gave birth to twins.
»It took Almuth a long, long time to find his way back.
And unfortunately we couldn't create so many moments in which Almuth could have played," national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg told NDR when she announced that she would continue to rely on Frohms.
Schult himself had hoped to return to goal.
At a media day in mid-June, Schult still hadn't quite digested her failed comeback in the national team, it seemed.
“On the one hand, I'm obviously disappointed.
As a competitive athlete, I always want to bring my qualities to bear," she said at the time: "I've played a few good games lately, but there are decisions that you have to accept.
Maybe there are people who see it differently now, but I can't change it."
National coach Voss-Tecklenburg has already explained her decision several times. At the press conference shortly before the opening game she said on the subject: "Merle has shown in the last two and a half years that she has matured into number one.
This is her first time in a tournament in this position.
We're all excited.
Like everyone else, she's trained really well."
Voss-Tecklenburg emphasized that there would never be a problem in the goalkeeping position, the three candidates available to choose from are so good, which include Schult and Frohms as well as Ann-Katrin Berger, who is under contract with the English top club FC Chelsea.
“They push each other in training, they support each other.
Everyone has different qualities and skills,” said Voss-Tecklenburg.
Spectators who only watch women's football occasionally should therefore quickly ask themselves why Schult is not in goal at the start of the German European Championship.
After all, the 31-year-old is one of the better-known faces of the national team.
Not only her numerous successes with VfL Wolfsburg have contributed to this, but also her fight for her sport, her criticism of the DFB - and her TV expert appearances at the last men's European Championship a year ago, when she outstripped Bastian Schweinsteiger.
The 27-year-old Frohms, on the other hand, is likely to be less known to the German audience, which usually only tunes in to the big tournaments for women.
She is known to react quickly and jump powerfully, Voss-Tecklenburg appreciates her as a "playing goalkeeper who dares something", she has also improved her control of the penalty area over time.
The anticipation of the winner of the goalkeeper duel is great: "Of course I'm really looking forward to starting this tournament.
I've been preparing intensively for the last three years to finally get to this point," Frohms, who has played for Eintracht Frankfurt since 2020, told NDR.
She had also played in a team with Schult at VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, and despite many titles she moved on to Freiburg in 2018 - because of Schult.
Because here the older keeper was able to hold her ground.
“No matter how hard I tried, I never had a real chance of becoming number one.
The competition was just too big for that.«
What she couldn't do at VfL, she now did with the national team.
Schult, who has "always been a competitive type", does not see herself in a new role at the European Championship despite the circumstances.
"I have my character, it doesn't change whether I arrive as number one, two or three," she said at the Media Day.
And: "I've also taken part in many tournaments as number two, helped shape them."
After the European Championship, Schult will turn his back on the Bundesliga.
From the coming season, she will play for Angel City FC in Los Angeles, which was founded by numerous sports and Hollywood stars - and will thus release the goal in Wolfsburg that she regained after her pregnancy.
By the way, there is already a successor there.
Her name is: Merle Frohms.