Since her enormously successful playing career, Saskia Bartusiak has always sent out this one message: women’s football deserves a little more appreciation, a little more public interest.
It was also the (national) players of her generation who paved the way and fought for the development that has taken place in recent years. Now Bartusiak, the all-time winner, is joining the coaching staff of the senior national team, as the DFB announced on Monday.
After the Olympic Games in Paris, the 41-year-old will start working alongside the new national coach Christian Wück and assistant Maren Meinert. So two Olympics after her finest hour as a player. At the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the Frankfurt native led the German team as captain.
In the semi-finals, the central defender played her 100th international match and after her 101st, she received the gold medal at the Maracana Stadium. Her brilliant international career ended with the great moment in Rio (two European Championships and one World Cup title), and she also won everything there was to win at her club 1. FFC Frankfurt.
After his career ended, Bartusiak found a follow-up position at the DFB in the scouting and analysis department in 2018, where he worked with the youth teams.
For DFB sports director Nia Künzer, her former teammate in the club and national team impresses with her “clear, critical eye and the ability to look at things from a different perspective.” The coaching team is “excellently positioned to master the challenges that lie ahead after the Olympics.” According to the association’s statement, Saskia Bartusiak wants to approach her new task with “high motivation and respect”.
