European Championship finalists welcomed by thousands of fans in Frankfurt
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The German vice European champions were received at the Römer in Frankfurt. Thousands of fans were waiting in front of City Hall. The lost final against England the night before had set a record. In both countries.
SThey were visibly touched, and perhaps the reception helped the players to overcome the last bit of disappointment that remained after the narrowly lost final the night before. “This is incredible and what we dreamed of. It’s wonderful to be able to see that people are so enthusiastic,” said defender Giulia Gwinn at the big welcome party.
Thousands of enthusiastic people celebrated the German women’s soccer team on Monday when they returned from the European Championship in England at the Römer in Frankfurt. The team of national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg narrowly missed out on the ninth European Championship title after losing 2-1 after extra time in the final against hosts England, but won a lot of sympathy thanks to their great performance in the finals. “Of course we suffered a lot,” said Voss-Tecklenburg. “We actually wanted to be European champions and not winners of hearts. But if the great performance has helped us win the hearts of the German population, we are happy to win hearts.”
The entire DFB entourage was greeted warmly as soon as they landed in Frankfurt. National coach Voss-Tecklenburg was the first to get off the plane, followed by captain Alexandra Popp, who had to watch the final injured. Later, the players and the national coach signed the city’s golden book in the Römer. “We experienced the end of a tournament on Sunday, but also the beginning of something really big. We can all look forward to that,” said DFB President Bernd Neuendorf, acknowledging the performance at the European Championship and adding: “Of course, we hope that this wonderful tournament will attract many women and young girls to football.”
ARD with a positive prognosis
Hope is fueled by numbers. The live broadcast of the final broke the 11-year-old audience record from the 2011 World Cup. An average of 17.897 million people watched the final on Sunday on ARD. According to AGF video research, the market share of the approximately two-hour transmission was 64.8 percent. According to ARD, it was even higher for younger audiences.
“The German players played a great EM in England and inspired our audience with their way of playing football, their high level of commitment and especially their team strength and unity,” said ARD sports coordinator Axel Balkausky. The team “offered a final that not only brought us a new all-time record for viewership, but above all a lot of enthusiasm for what is to come from this DFB team in the future”.
In Great Britain, according to the BBC, the final had a peak of 17.4 million TV viewers – also a record – for the year 2022 and for women’s football. In addition, another 5.9 million experienced the Lionesses’ first European Championship success via stream. This does not include spectators at fan festivals and in pubs.