World champions await
Thursday, 12 October, 2006
Hope Powell's side are back in action against Germany at VFR Aalen on Wednesday 25 October.
International Women's Friendly
5.25pm (Central European Time) Wednesday 25 October 2006
Waldstadion, VFR Aalen
Live on ARD
After the euphoria of qualifying for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, Hope Powell's England Women are back in action when they take on reigning World and European champions Germany at VFR Aalen on Wednesday 25 October.
With Jo Potter still on the comeback trail from an ankle injury, Hope has retained the same 20 players that were in Rennes to secure the 1-1 draw that saw The Three Lions become the eighth team to qualify for next September's tournament.
Hope told TheFA.com: "After the emotions everyone experienced in France, the planning for China starts now. I was so happy for the players that their hard work paid off in Rennes, but we have to be professional and acknowledge that we are still trying to close the gap on the top nations in the world.
"We wanted the test of playing against the World Champions which will provide the players with a fantastic test. No-one is going to start making unrealistic predictions about how we will fare in China, but we will be sensible and set ourselves a series of challenges over the next twelve months.
"The interest in the squad since qualifying has been fantastic and with this likely to be our last competitive game of 2006, we'd like to finish the year with another strong performance."
The 11,183 capacity stadium will see the two sides go head-to-head for the eleventh time since 1993, with the Germans holding a 100% record in that period. In 1997 England hosted the Germans at Preston North End and lost 4-6 in a game that is notable for two of the goalscorers; Hope Powell and Kelly Smith.
England last played Germany in September 2003, when two goals from Birgit Prinz and a goal apiece from Renate Lingor and Maren Meinert secured a 4-0 victory in Darmstadt.
Germany were the only European country to go through their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 100% record, scoring 31 goals and conceeding only three.
England Squad: