'Right warning shot' - German women's coach still upbeat for Olympics

Coach of the women's German football team Horst Hrubesch, gesticulates during the UEFA European Championship qualifier soccer match between Germany and Poland at Ostseestadion. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa

German women's team coach Horst Hrubesch hopes that their 3-0 defeat in Iceland was a warning at the right time ahead of the Olympic tournament which starts in less than a fortnight.

The loss in chilly Reykjavik on Friday night was the heaviest loss for the team since being beaten by the same score by France in 2018.

The team can make up for it in on Tuesday at home against Austria in the final Euro 2025 qualifier. Germany had clinched their place at the finals in Switzerland before the last two games.

Hrubesch said he was not concerned regarding the Paris Olympics where Germany start on July 25 against Australia and also the United States and Zambia in the group stage.

"I don't have any doubts, I think that was the right warning shot," Hrubesch said. "I still have a good feeling, that's not the problem."

Hrubesch said the players had been on holiday before but also said that improvement is needed for the 2016 Olympic gold medallists.

"One thing is also clear: we have to take on these duels from the outset, and what we played was simply poor," Hrubsch said.

"You could also see that we helped them to score all three goals ourselves. We often made many, many wrong decisions going forward."