DFB captain Alexandra Popp sees itself despite her knee problems against the USA ready for the group final against Zambia at the Olympic Games. “We've got it under control quite well so far. We're confident that everything will work out well tomorrow,” said the 33-year-old from VfL Wolfsburg before the final training session of the German women's soccer team in Saint-Étienne.

Popp completed the training session with her right knee taped: “I want to take part for the most part. We agreed that we'll just see how it goes.” She sometimes feels a little prick in her knee, but often everything is fine.

Popp, who is replacing Lena Oberdorf (cruciate ligament operation) in the number six position in France, had to be substituted in the closing stages of the 1:4 defeat against the Americans due to an injury. “It's my cartilage knee, it happens every now and then. It's not that bad, nothing like that has happened,” she clarified in Marseille.

Popp missed the two tough tests before the Olympics in Iceland and against Austria due to a foot irritation, but played the full 3-0 win against Australia at the start of the tournament. The team of national coach Horst Hrubesch is second in the group and has three points, just like Australia, before the last preliminary round match against Zambia on Wednesday (7 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Olympics, on ARD and on Eurosport). The USA are in the lead with six points. Zambia, who are bottom of the table, still have no points.

For the first time since her infection, left-back Sarai Linder trained again. Felicitas Rauch, who also played against the USA, was recently nominated to replace the future Wolfsburg player. The tournament rules state that Linder can slip back into the 18-man squad – if this is requested at least six hours before the next game. (dpa)