Germany women’s squad captain Giulia Gwinn’s injury thrusts new player to the fore | OneFootball

Since officially inheriting the captain’s armband from German footballing legend Alexandra Popp during a match in Duisburg last November, Gwinn has quickly become the face of German women’s football. Whether it was chastising the Bayern bosses for skipping the DFB-Pokal semi-final or rallying support for the team in the lead up to the current tournament, Gwinn has been the go-to media representative for die Frauennationalmannschaft.

Ever since she scored the game-winning goal in Germany’s opening group 2019 Women’s World Cup group stage fixture against China, German football watchers knew that Gwinn was a different breed of player. The then 19-year-old delivered perhaps the best tournament out of any of the German player in Martina Voss-Teckelenburg’s side.

Watching Gwinn in that competition six years ago, many sensed that the intense roving hustler intent on covering every blade of grass would be the future of the German women’s game at some point. In the lead up to the current tournament, Gwinn found herself at the center of the German media blitz. Virtually every major German footballing media outlet conducted interviews with her.

Gwinn’s absence in the 2023 WWC constituted one of the main reasons the German women weren’t able to advance beyond the group. The now 26-year-old injured herself in rather heroic fashion this time. A strong last-minute tackle against Polish striker Ewa Pajor in the 36th minute prevented a goal.

It sadly became immediately apparent that the tackle would leave Gwinn unable to continue. Gwinn left the pitch in St. Gallen in tears.

“It was a hard-fought victory for us,” national team coach Christian Wück remarked in an ARD victory afterwards. “Her knee is affected. But she also prevented the goal, so we have to give her credit for that. And now we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that it’s not too bad.”

Jule Brand, who scored the opening goal and set up the second, almost discounted her own contributions when speaking on the matter. Brand’s Bayern teammate Klara Bühl and also registered comment.

Behind Gwinn, one of Germany’s most popular and recognizable female footballers, Laura Freigang, also spoke to the media. Freigang took the opportunity to extend compliments to Carlotta Wamser, her Eintracht Frankfurt teammate who replaced Gwinn.

All three players spoke in the mixed zone.

“I didn’t do too much right today apart from those two things,” Brand said of her goal and assist. “She [Gwinn] is a very important player for us. You could sense a dip in our performance after [she was subbed off].”

“We are all behind her,” Bühl added. “We are with her and we are keeping our fingers crossed that nothing serious has happened.“

“With Giulia it’s extremely bitter,” Freigang said. “Our thoughts are with her, but the team deserves compliments for shaking it off.

“Carlotta [Wamser] came on for her,” Freigang continued. “And I don’t know. How many national team caps does she have? Three or four? And she got an assist.

“Giulia knows that she has our full support,” Freigang concluded. “She knows that. It’s still good of her to feel it. She’s extremely important to us as both a player and a person.”

Friday evening actually counted as Wamser’s third international cap. The 21-year-old Eintracht Frankfurt professional only earned her first call up in the most recent May/June international break and made only two appearances off the bench. Wamser was actually a forward by trade until she was forced to fill in for the injured Pia-Sophie Wolter at right back for her club during the last five fixtures of the season.

This led to Wück spotting her as a potential back-up for Gwinn. Wamser humorous remarked that she was very surprised tor receive a call-up for the Euros whilst at a media event earlier this week. Bundestrainer Wück actually didn’t have her number in his phone. She thus received news via a phone call from Wück to her mother.

“It’s a funny story,” Wamser said at DFB-Media Day. “Christian only had my mother’s number, so he called her. I think my mother didn’t answer three times. He then tried again. After that, my mother called me and told me to call him back.”

Wamser technically registered an assist on Brand’s 1-0 in the 52nd minute even though the story of the goal was more of a brilliant solo effort from Brand. Wamser still turned in a strong performance and made a decent case for herself.

“I’m not under much pressure and can play freely,” Wamser remarked earlier this week. “Maybe I’ll get a few minutes.”

The former SGS Essen product may be in for a great deal more than that.

GGFN | Peter Weis