The footballers opened the World Cup in Australia with a 6-0 win over Morocco

– Team Germany celebrate an encouraging win in Australia. EM star Bob is allowed to perform his original cheer gesture twice.

Alexandra Bob first took a deep breath. The heroine of the German footballers’ perfect opening night at the World Cup was asked about her “ET” telephone goal celebration, and the DFB captain responded emotionally: “I think it was my father who lost weight.” The man, who scored twice in Monday’s 6-0 (2-0) thrashing of Morocco in Melbourne, said: “In that sense, it’s also calling home. Not only to those sitting in front of the television, but especially to the people who can no longer be with us.”

“I don’t have to say them,” said Bob during a press conference in the evening (local time) as to the reasons for their feelings. But it was clear that she was thinking of her dead father that evening. In front of a sold-out crowd of 27,256 at Albert Park Stadium, the striker was the man to score the first two German goals of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand (11th and 39th minutes).

Twice, the 32-year-old from Wolfsburg showed his joyous gesture known at EM 2022 in England, referencing the classic movie about an extraterrestrial “.ET” stranded on Earth and wanting to “phone home”: left hand as an imaginary telephone, right hand extended index finger to the sky. When they were substituted late (83rd), the German fans in the stadium cheered.

Doubts about the trainer disappeared

After the game, the captain wrapped himself in a thick jacket and turned around in the middle, smiling and hugging his teammates. Doubts about the selection of national coach Martina Voss-Decklenburg on their way to a third World Cup title after 2003 and 2007 were erased after the victory over the World Cup debutants.

“We know not everything is tip-toppy,” Voss-Decklenburg said. “Other people have to decide and categorize whether that’s a statement. But we can categorize it, and we’re not crazy right now.” After the pop, Bayern’s Clara Bull (46′) and Leah Schuller (90′) scored for the DFB selection, while Hanane Aud El Haj (54′) and Zineb Redovani (79′) scored in their own goal. Next opponents Colombia in Sydney next Sunday will be a tougher test for the European runners-up.

“We are very happy to be able to bring such a first game on the pitch,” said Bob on ZDF. “We stayed true to ourselves and played our game.” Voss-Decklenburg had to rebuild their defense due to injury: defensive leader Marina Hegering (injured heel) and midfield clear Lena Oberdorf (hamstring injury) were only on the bench, Sjok Nusken (external ligament strain in knee).

“Of course we know about Poppy’s strength, especially during the titles. She really did exactly what we expected of her,” Oberdorf said dryly of her club colleague: “So it was a solid performance by Ms Popp.”

64 goals in 129 internationals

He was the star of the tournament at last year’s European Championship in England with 6 goals and has now scored 64 goals in his 129th international. Sami Khedira was one of about 2,000 German fans in the stadium. 2014 World Champion Bob’s duo saw how it gave DFB-Elf more protection. After the disappointing Test matches against Vietnam and Zambia, there was some criticism.

Even with the national anthem, Bob’s eyes lit up. In the end, she sat in the press conference as “player of the game” and was allowed to hear her coach’s words of praise: “Alexandra Popp is a leader, a captain you couldn’t ask for better. But she’s also a team player,” Voss-Decklenburg said. Union Home Minister Nancy Feser and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbach sent their greetings from home. “Let it go on like this!” Pfizer wrote on Twitter.

The way their teammates behaved, “how we scored, gives us a lot of confidence for the next games,” emphasized Bob: “I didn’t set many goals that I wanted to score. I just want to get to the final and play as well as I can and win in the end.”