When 20-year-old Bayern Munich keeper Ena Mahmutovic took one touch too many in front of goal late in her national team debut — a mistake that resulted in Italy’s 2-1 winner over Germany on Monday — Giulia Gwinn was one of the first to come and give her keeper some words of encouragement.
The 25-year-old Bayern Munich defender is now one of the national team’s more established veterans and, though not officially ensconced as the permanent captain, wore the armband on the day. And she carried herself like a leader, too.
“We can’t just blame it on the two individual mistakes,” Gwinn said after the match (as captured by DW Sports). “We could have scored four or five goals but wasted our chances.”
Mahmutovic’s blunder — along with that of center-back Sarai Linder, whose slack pass led straight to Italy’s first goal — will stand out from this match. But a good team, as any good leader knows, responds and analyzes as a whole.
And on the whole, the Germans have fared at least respectably — bringing in a new set of young stars and elevating more established veterans in the wake of some big retirements, notably that of VfL Wolfsburg striker Alexandra Popp. As well as that of keeper Merle Frohms, Popp’s club teammate.
There were always bound to be growing pains.
Against Italy, notably, the entire German build-up structure from the back looked shaky. More than once or twice the Germans played themselves into pressure or forced the ball into risky areas. Whether that is personnel, cohesion, or tactics will be something for head coach Christian Wück to resolve.
And he will have time to do it.
The Germans return to action in 2025 in the UEFA Women’s Nations League, with matches on February 21 at the Netherlands and February 25 vs. Austria.
