The German women’s national soccer team manages to take part in the Olympic Games. In doing so, she fulfills a promise that already seemed broken.
They cried for joy. Falling into each other’s arms. Radiated. The relief on their faces was obvious. The players of the German women’s national team made it at the last minute. For the first time since winning gold in 2016, the DFB team is going to the Olympic Games again. Paris 2024 will take place with the team of interim national coach Horst Hrubesch.
With the 2-0 win in the game for third place in the Nations League against the Netherlands, the DFB selection ultimately used their second Olympic match point – and: a very big promise was kept late.
The promise that German women’s football made in the summer of 2022. It was only a year and a half ago that the players around captain Alexandra Popp enchanted the whole of football Germany with their performances at the European Championships in England. The DFB women triggered a boom.
Women’s football was suddenly no longer a minor matter in Germany. The stadiums of the Bundesliga games were filled and broke attendance records game after game. 19,000 fans in Munich, 21,000 in Bremen, 23,000 in Frankfurt, 38,000 in Cologne.
Millions enthusiastically watched the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. But after three games and some dismal performances, it was clear: Germany was out – a bitter blow to the euphoria in women’s football. A botched participation in the Olympics would have been poisonous for the already depressed mood.
The Olympics will be the last major event
The win against the Netherlands is a reminder of what is actually possible. It is a signal: We are still alive. He says: We can still do it. It is also a wake-up call: keep believing in us.
For some, the Olympic Games in Paris will now be the last big event: national coach Hrubesch will leave after the tournament, long-time top performers like Alex Popp and Svenja Huth are now hoping for their nomination as the final highlight of their DFB careers. Who knows what is possible in the French metropolis?
So that afterwards – whether successful or not – you can say again: You believed in yourself.