»We are a role model for diversity« (nd-aktuell.de)

From 1984 to 2000 you played 125 international matches for the German national team. It was an era when the European Championship title went to Germany almost as if at the touch of a button. In your CV there are four won European Championship titles from 1989 to 1997. What is the most formative memory that has stuck with you?

The question is very easy to answer: the first European title in 1989, because it was just a special setting. It started with the semi-final against Italy in Siegen, where we had to go to penalties. I was considered one of the safest shooters and shot the first ball five meters over the goal – they’re still looking for that today. Our goalkeeper Marion Isbert then saved three penalties and converted the decisive one herself. Suddenly people knew: There is a German women’s national team that is in the final of the European Championship.

And then?

You drive to Osnabrück for the final and suddenly the stadium on the Bremer Bridge is sold out, the TV is broadcasting live – and you play against Norway in a frenzy. That moment triggered something for the entire development of women’s and girls’ football in Germany. The way we celebrated afterwards is still more relevant to me today than what came afterwards.

So, in retrospect, is it actually out of place to often only mention the coffee service that was presented for the European Championship title?

This is totally wrongly pushed into the foreground. We were amateurs, the DFB wasn’t allowed to pay us any money back then. It was more of a symbolic gesture that the officials considered. It’s actually funny that a man’s world came up with the idea of ​​providing women with a coffee service. It’s still in my kitchen at home, by the way, and it’s always nice to look at it (laughs).

Why was Germany so much better than other nations in women’s football in the years that followed and won the European Championship a total of eight times up until 2013?

We grew up in a world where we only went out with the boys, had to assert ourselves, and where we carried a different conviction within us. I talked to Birgit Prinz (the record player works as a team psychologist for the DFB women, editor’s note) about the subject again: If one of us sat outside, we came onto the pitch with a self-image, that we change the game. With Gero Bisanz we had brought an outstanding coach and a high level of identification with us. We had amateurish structures, but at heart we were top professionals! I’ve looked everywhere to see where I can improve. That’s why I trained at MSV Duisburg and chose my employer so that I could play as much football as possible – with the knowledge that I didn’t earn any money from it, but it was my passion. Germany is a football nation, and that was gender-independent.

Can you anchor these qualities in your players?

We don’t always want to talk about the past, but we can try to work on these issues. I still believe that we too will be a really good team at the European Championship if our players have an inner belief in their ability to perform. Other nations may be a bit ahead of us there.

Why?

It has to do with our training in football. A lot is very structured, also very barracked. It is not very creative, but has become very uniform – also in our society. Guys who break out have become rare. It’s mostly about not making mistakes, not showing any weaknesses – and preferably not getting bad grades. In addition: We are simply not a sports country! We don’t have a sports culture like Iceland. A small country, but sport plays an important role everywhere.

Not in this country?

I recently spoke to our DFB President Bernd Neuendorf about the fact that sport is not optimally represented politically. We are the first at school to cut back on physical education classes. Indoor pools are closed, gyms are needed for other things, and sports facilities were closed for months during the corona crisis. Children are becoming increasingly overweight, although it has been shown that being active also increases learning ability. On this basic level, Germany is no longer a sporting country for me. That makes it difficult. Incidentally, this also applies to the appreciation of those who have made sport their profession. For me, the Netherlands is a classic example: there people go to football, speed skating, and cycle races and celebrate, but also the sport. For me, this is also one of the reasons for the lack of talent in Germany.

Does that also explain why Germany is no longer the leader in women’s football?

For years, the Spaniards have relied on a culture of free play to encourage creativity; the English recognized many years before us that their talent training had to be different if as many as possible were to reach the top. And in Switzerland, at the academy, two other sports were also taught in the football boarding school. I’m still missing a bit here. But these are issues that politics, society and sports associations must tackle together – preferably in kindergarten and elementary school.

The number of active players is from just under 280 000 to last 187 000 shrunk, in Corona times the number had even more than halved. Don’t you see any contradiction in the fact that the DFB, in the person of director Oliver Bierhoff, is demanding the semi-finals for the women’s European Championship in England?

We are still the footballing nation of Germany and we are convinced that we have to set high goals if we are to continue working so intensively. I wouldn’t talk about it if I wasn’t absolutely convinced of the potential of my team. In the past, maybe two or three other nations said before a European Championship that they wanted to be European champions, today there are six or seven. The fact that we belong also entails a claim for the future: What will we do if the number of girls and women playing football continues to fall? Of course you could still be successful with fewer players, but one of our missions is to achieve success and have a downward impact in order to encourage girls and boys to play football.

They talk about girls and boys as a matter of course. A lot has also happened at the DFB to promote football for women and girls. But the association is a long way from the same premiums as elsewhere. Nevertheless, 60,000 euros for the title at this European Championship is a record bonus. What are your thoughts on the equal pay debate?

I think it’s good that our association passes on more to the players, even if more comes in. The task for Fifa and Uefa is that at some point there will be a bonus system where it is the same for everyone – we would like that. But I also say that what is happening in men’s football is simply oversized. These are areas that the normal fan can no longer understand. That’s why I don’t want to be tied to numbers at all, it has to be closer: Less in men’s football and maybe a little more for us.

So you don’t go as far as the associations of Spain, Norway or more recently the Netherlands and Switzerland, which have equalized the premiums for women and men?

One can think about equalizing the premiums for the men’s national teams, women’s national teams and U21 at some point, because these three teams are marching in front. But it’s not possible for women to get 400,000 euros for a title. No association in Europe can afford that as long as men’s football is the number one sport that outshines everything else. In general, I feel that men and women are growing closer together in our association.

How good is your relationship with Hansi Flick?

For the short time we have had a lot of exchanges. We met with both coaching teams a few weeks ago and sat together for a very long time. The fact is that I have been on the phone with Hansi several times for a long time. And we both notice that it is worthwhile to exchange ideas, which also come about through the academy, the national teams management or team management.

Your captain Svenja Huth speaks as a matter of course that she used the vacation to the training camp to marry her partner. On the other hand, it would hardly be conceivable that something like that would be heard from a male international.

The men also say when they marry! (laughs out loud).

You know what is meant.

I hope that we are a role model for diversity! We deal with many socially relevant topics with great openness. The players have developed this value-oriented interaction with each other themselves. Ultimately, everyone has to decide for themselves whether they want to make something like a same-sex marriage public. We deal with such topics much more openly and perhaps also with greater self-confidence. I think it’s great when you don’t want to hide yourself in your life relationship, but you don’t have to show everything to the outside world either.

You bring a multi-faceted CV with you. Do female players approach you on these issues?

We talk about so, so many things: It happens automatically. There is also the issue of children. We have so many exciting topics that we rarely talk about football anymore at the tables. That simply shows what great personalities and exciting people we have with us. Because women bring children into the world, they deal with these issues differently than men. It has a different consequence during the career.