How the German women's national team prepare to cope with Giulia Gwinn's absence

Yahoo

11-07-2025

Confirmation that German women's national team captain Giulia Gwinn will miss the duration of the 2025 UEFA Women's European Championship has led to midfielder/central defender Janina Minge being elevated to the role of skipper. Minge previously served as the squad's vice-captain, though she was only given this title last spring.
Gwinn's injury comes at an odd time for the German Frauennationalmannschaft. The Bayern Munich player herself only inherited the armband from the legendary Alexandra Popp last autumn. Minge herself has only earned 22 senior team caps and usually plays higher up in midfield for her club VfL Wolfsburg.
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Minge was drafted into central defense by Bundestrainer Christian Wück to help fill the gaps left by other recently retired German women's national team centre-backs Sara Doorsoun and Marina Hegering. The new role constitutes a hefty challenge for the 26-year-old.
Gwinn's absence leaves many questions. The two best candidates to potentially replace Minge as vice-captain are Bayern Munich attacking midfielder Linda Dallmann (30) and Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Kathrin Berger (34), both of whom are current starters.
Wück could also turn to one of two more experienced internationals, Sara Däbritz (30) of Real Madrid or Kathrin Hendrich (33) of the Chicago Stars, who no longer log as many minutes as they did in their primes. Däbrtiz (108 caps) and Hendrich (83 caps) do still bring with them plenty of experience.
It shall prove interesting to see whom Wück taps for this leadership role. More interesting still, Wück must find someone to assume responsibility for Gwinn's role as a set-piece and penalty taker.
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Minge, Wolfsburg's Jule Brand, Bayern's Lea Schüller, or Chelsea's Sjoeke Nüsken could all step up to take Gwinn's place. So too could Eintracht Frankfurt's Laura Freigang or RB Leipzig's Giovanna Hoffmann.
It does seem for certain that the relatively new and highly intriguing Carlotta Wamser will serve as Gwinn's direct replacement in the starting right back slot. Minge herself was among the players who praised Wamser's performance in relief of Gwinn Friday night.
There appears to be a great deal more hope for the German women than during their ill-fated 2023 Women's World Cup campaign. Then Bundestrainerin Martina-Voss Teckelenburg – also having to deal with Gwinn's absence – converted attacker Svenja Huth to right back.
Though everything worked out perfectly in an opening round 6-0 romp of Morocco, a loss against Colombia and draw against South Korea saw the Mädels eliminated in the group phase. A raft of injuries that also saw starting left back Felicitas Rauch didn't help matters either.
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Wamser received a vote of confidence from DFB-Frauen sporting director Nia Künzer at a Saturday media event.
'We are very excited about the progress Carlotta has made in recent months,' Künzer remarked, 'She's physically stable and possesses excellent clarity and dynamism in her game.'
GGFN | Peter Weis