Alexandra Popp has now learned to deal with the hype about her person. For a long time now, the prominent soccer player has only fulfilled a fraction of media inquiries, but sometimes her presence at a press conference is unavoidable. Just showered, still with wet hair, the match winner, after the almost intoxicating friendly match between the DFB women and France (2: 1), now willingly told what “huge added value” the atmospheric setting in Dresden had given – and she hoped “that that will continue stops”. You could say: “The atmosphere was just amazing, it inspired us.”
26,835 eyewitnesses in the almost sold-out Rudolf Harbig Stadium, all around so enthusiastic that the “Oh-how-is-that-beautiful” chants boomed out into the Great Garden, are the benchmark for home international matches of the European Championship women in the future that come across so authentically that they reach a not inconsiderable proportion of German football fans. 3.23 million tuned in to ARD – a market share of 12.6 percent, the most-watched ARD program after the Tagesschau.
Popp went ahead again at prime time as a symbolic figure, who performed an almost cheesy repetition in the new edition of the EM semifinals. Won again 2:1. Again thanks to the double popp. As on July 27 in Milton Keynes, England, the 122-time national player also scored head and foot in Dresden, this time after assists from Felicitas Rauch and Svenja Huth, who unerringly found their team-mate from VfL Wolfsburg (44th and 48th).
It is by no means certain that Popp will live out her storm and urge at the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (July 20 to August 20). A premature end to her career in DFB dress is still not out of the question, the 31-year-old may just about be celebrated. “I didn’t say that I wouldn’t play the World Cup under any circumstances. As of now, the World Cup is on my list, but I’m still leaving it open.” According to reports, there are very private reasons why the six-time EM goal scorer does not want to close this back door. The fun is definitely there, she assured.
With their international goals 60 and 61, Popp once again underlined their sporting value for a German team that initially had extraordinarily difficult with the French pressing. But the DFB women bit their teeth into the game – enthusiastically cheered on by a crowd that enthusiastically celebrated every successful action right from the start. National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg suspected many reasons for the incredible support. “The desire for great football, Friday night in a great stadium: there are a lot of girls and boys right now, a lot of families who want to support us with their closeness.” The desire for honest football was palpable on that golden October day.
“You can tell that it’s booming. I just had to grin at the national anthem and then concentrate on singing again,” said 20-year-old Lena Oberdorf, who was celebrated by the audience with chants. “It was pure goosebumps. As a child, that’s exactly the setting you dream of when you’re thinking about an international match. That’s where we have to keep at it.”
Venues in the provinces and playing times in the afternoon are no longer suitable for the DFB women
Even the policemen grinned, because in this happy and peaceful atmosphere they finally had a relaxed football evening – that is also possible at a location that was recently in the headlines because of the violent excesses of Dynamo Dresden fans. When parents with children, pupils and students populate the K-Block instead of the Dynamo Ultras, the mood doesn’t have to be bad.
High-ranking guests from the DFB sponsors in the VIP boxes openly expressed their desire to transfer the mood to the men. They had last played in the Nations League duel against Hungary in Leipzig in front of an operetta-like crowd who had hardly made a peep. The DFB women, on the other hand, bowed to well-filled stands long after the end of the game. The ovations didn’t want to end. It goes without saying that DFB President Bernd Neuendorf was also enthusiastic: “A wonderful evening. Great, the players go to work with a lot of power and team spirit.”
The association will now have to weigh up with the television stations how the future home games of the DFB women will be designed. Venues in the province and playing times in the afternoon don’t really fit anymore, even if the opponents in the qualifying games become less well-known at some point. The next home appearance hasn’t even been scheduled yet because a trip to the USA with two tests against the world champions (November 11 and 13) in Fort Lauderdale and Harrison is pending.
Voss-Tecklenburg indicated that it was “not the best time” for these endurance tests in the middle of the Champions League games between VfL Wolfsburg and FC Bayern. However, the contractual obligations could no longer be shaken. Who will then be played against in spring 2023 depends largely on who is drawn as the opponent in the World Cup draw on October 22 in Auckland, New Zealand. The national coach wants to decide quickly where the base camp will be set up for this logistically demanding major event.
Alexandra Popp, that much is certain, should definitely be part of the tour group. “We need them – in the form anyway,” said Voss-Tecklenburg, who “doesn’t want to interpret too much” into Popp’s hints of quitting. In this regard, the 54-year-old refers to a one-to-one conversation after the European Championship final against England (1: 2 aet), when she whispered in the ear of Popp, who was not ready for action under almost dramatic circumstances due to a thigh injury: “We both lost a final. I don’t think you can stop like that!”