Bundesliga
Women’s football after EM: “Chance on a silver platter”
– The success of the DFB women at the European Championship could be an opportunity for women’s football in Germany. photo © Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
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Whether the German team becomes European champions on Sunday or not – there should be an upswing in the Bundesliga. In the past, however, this had often been hoped for in vain.
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Wolfsburg’s head of sport Ralf Kellermann sees the highly praised attitude of the German players at the European Championship in England as a great opportunity for the further development of women’s football.
“The decisive factor in this European Championship is the appearance of all players, this mentality. That helps us enormously,” said the 53-year-old from German champions VfL Wolfsburg of the German Press Agency.
“The identification with the national team is greater than it has been for a long time. Now we are all challenged, association and clubs, to take this momentum with us,” Kellermann continued. He described it as a “smart move” by the German Football Association to host the Bundesliga season-opening game between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich on September 16 as a highlight game at Deutsche Bank Park.
Next big event already next year
The next major event for the DFB women is already next year with the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (July 20th to August 20th) – if they qualify for it as expected. “That will also benefit us and is like a chance on a silver platter. We just have to keep at it. The chance is bigger than ever,” said Kellermann.
The European Championship, which ended on Sunday (6 p.m. / ARD and DAZN) with the final between Germany and England, had been postponed from 2021 to 2022 due to the corona pandemic.
Chatzialexiou hopes for euphoria at the start of the Bundesliga
“I hope that we can actually create or continue euphoria with the Bundesliga opener,” said Joti Chatzialexiou, head of national teams at the German Football Association. He referred to ongoing processes and projects at the association, which is also struggling with concerns about young talent. The average number of viewers in the Bundesliga was under 1000 recently.
“I think we experienced a European social media championship with enormous click rates. That means that you have a certain level of awareness. Success always helps,” Chatzialexiou continued. “We all have to put our heads together and see how we can push that over the next few years.” However, the many titles of the women’s team – such as the World Cup triumphs in 2003 and 2007 and Olympic gold in 2016 – had not changed much in the past in the status of the Bundesliga. The hoped-for upswing after the 2011 home World Cup also failed to materialize.
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