“We don’t have balls, but we know how to use them!” If the German public wasn’t entirely aware of the impending start of the Women’s World Cup in France this month, the team’s viral promotional video certainly caught the country’s attention. Bold, confident, feisty and self-assured, the clip was an accurate reflection of the mood in the German camp in Rennes in north-western France after 15 months which have seen an upturn in fortunes for the Frauenteam . After a disappointing quarterfinal exit from the European Championships in the Netherlands two years ago and an embarrassing last-place finish at the SheBelieves Cup in the United States in 2018, the inexperienced Steffie Jones was replaced by interim coach Horst Hrubesch, under whom the team secured World Cup qualification. Permanent head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg , who herself made 125 appearances for Germany and won four European Championships, took the reins last November and sees this tournament as an important stepping stones for a young squad which contains 15 World Cup debutants. Changing of the guard Less regular observers of the women’s game in Germany will search the squad list in vain for stalwarts such as Simone Laudehr and Anja Mittag, and find in their…