It took a lot of time for Maria Luisa Grohs to make the journey from the lawn of the campus stadium to the entrance to the cabin wing. Everyone wanted something from her and she routinely complied with all the questions and photo requests as if every game day was the same for her. But Easter Sunday was special. The FC Bayern goalkeeper was the player who decided the outcome of the game in the DFB Cup semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt. During the penalty shootout, she moved between the posts as if she were on a recreational kick. And perhaps that was her secret.
Because apart from Bayern’s Georgia Stanway with a hand penalty in the 3rd minute and Géraldine Reuteler with a powerful long-range shot (18th) to equalize, no one else put the ball in the goal, the hard-fought duel boiled down to a big finale. After 120 minutes, which Lea Schüller described as an “extremely tough and exhausting game”, Grohs parried Frankfurt’s first, second and third shots from the point. She let the fourth attempt through, but that was negligible, Pernille Harder converted the penalty that followed immediately – and the Munich team made it into the cup final for the fifth time after 1988, 1990, 2012 and 2018 with a 3-1 win.
“I’m not surprised at myself. I know I can rely on myself in pressure situations. That’s why I was able to go into the penalty shootout very relaxed,” said Grohs after she was one of the last of her team to arrive from the stadium into the building. Music had long been booming from the dressing room at club volume, garnished with the singing of the winners. Grohs radiated restraint, contentment and self-confidence in equal measure – and seemed anything but arrogant in her sentences.
In the final training session, the 22-year-old said, she didn’t save a single penalty. But instead of letting that unsettle her, it gave her confidence because Grohs knew that she didn’t have to worry about her teammates’ finishing ability. “And I was just up for it!” said the keeper, who came to FC Bayern from VfL Bochum in 2019 after graduating from high school, and laughed. “Once you’re in the flow and have a feel for what’s happening, you’re usually doing pretty well.” She had stuck a note with her name and preferences on her drinking bottle – except that the actual shooters were completely different. But even that didn’t faze her, which she was already known for.
“This team has what it takes to make history,” says club president Hainer
When Grohs finally disappeared to celebrate, her coach Alexander Straus sat down one floor above for the press conference. The ground vibrated with the bass of the music. After the Norwegian had rightly praised the Frankfurt team for their strong performance, he talked about his player of the game, who had already shone with saves before the penalties and thus made up for some of her colleagues’ nervousness against their declared feared opponents: “We knew that she has that mentality when the pressure is very high,” said Straus and added: “I think she doesn’t always get the recognition she deserves. But we believe in her a lot.”
“We knew that she has this mentality when the pressure is very high,” says Alexander Strauss about his goalkeeper, who was the player of the game for him.
(Photo: Jasmin Walter/Getty Images)
Apart from the increased trust in Grohs, FC Bayern now also maintains their belief in the footballers’ first double. They only succeeded in the cup once, in 2012 against 1. FFC Frankfurt. And the intensity of the cheering and the happy facial expressions of everyone involved showed their relief at the new opportunity. “We have wanted a cup final for a long time,” said sports director Bianca Rech. “It has huge meaning for us.” Club president Herbert Hainer was like DFB sports director Nia Künzer and the future women’s national coach Christian Wück as a spectator in the stadium – and said after the feeling of success, which is in direct contrast to the disillusionment of the men: “This team has what it takes to make history.”
As part of the upswing, the trip to Cologne on May 9th is the next proof of the team’s continuous development. With five games remaining, the Munich team leads the Bundesliga with a seven-point lead over Wolfsburg – the club that will be their final opponent. They recently won clearly 4-0 in the league, but VfL and the cup, that’s a special love story. The Wolfsburg team last lost in this competition on November 16, 2013 and could win the title for the tenth time in a row this year. And because it may be their only trophy for the richly stocked display case in 2024, the motivation should be even greater. SGS Essen clearly felt their enormous self-confidence when they won 9-0 on Easter Saturday.
For Maria Luisa Grohs, in addition to the title, it’s also about a place in the national team, perhaps even for the Olympic Games. For the start of the European Championship qualification on April 5th in Austria and on April 9th against Iceland, interim national coach Horst Hrubesch chose Merle Frohms (Wolfsburg), Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea FC) and Stina Johannes (Frankfurt). Grohs said on Sunday: “I would like to submit the application letter like this.”
In the 2018 cup final between FC Bayern and VfL, Wolfsburg won on penalties. But Maria Luisa Grohs wasn’t in goal yet either.