Germany celebrates with the DFB team and with Alexandra Popp. The VfL Wolfsburg striker tells what is probably the most impressive story of this European Football Championship. From the role of reservist, she rises in a remarkable way to the leader of this exciting team.
Alexandra Popp is a monster. And that is in the very best sense. Once again, the German captain ate the opponent’s dreams. Against the euphoric Austria, she conceded the longing for the sensation and now, on this Wednesday evening, the 31-year-old torpedoed France out of the tournament. And torpedoing is to be taken quite literally. Their two goals in the 2-1 win in the semifinals were two powerful statements of greed and passion. They were two goals full of pop. The 1-0 hit her powerfully under the bar from a short distance. At 2-1, she squeezed in between the two central defenders Griedge Mbock Bathy and Wendie Renard, climbed the highest, which was quite surprising given Renard’s 187 centimeters, and scored.
“I’m a little speechless, to be honest. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve put back on the pitch – with incredible energy, with defensive work that was really brutal,” enthused Popp. “In the last few weeks and months we have spoken of a very, very strong quality that is in this squad. That we just have to manage to bring exactly this concentrated power to the pitch. How we stand together on the pitch, that makes me incredibly proud. I’ve been here for ten years – and I’ve honestly never experienced such a team spirit, such a team structure.”
Five games were played at this European Championship, Alexandra Popp scored six times. She is tied with England’s Beth Mead as the top scorer. On Sunday there will be a direct duel, not between the two strikers, who are taken care of by other players, but between the two national teams. And their story is similar. Both teams have created tremendous enthusiasm in their country. For genuine enthusiasm. Free from staging, from big shows (which nobody needs) and marketing claims. In England, the little dancing girl in the stands at Bramall Lane in Sheffield tells the story of a whole team. In Germany it’s pop.
Her story is now better known than that of many male colleagues from the senior national team. Popp tells a classic resurrection story. A heroic story against all odds. This EM, it’s their EM. It is actually her first European Championship. And not because she is a late starter, but because her career is paved with setbacks. With injuries. Before the 2013 tournament, she tore the lateral ligament in her knee, and in 2017 a torn meniscus shattered all dreams. If Corona hadn’t forced the EM from 2021 to 2022, Popp wouldn’t have been there either: A cartilage damage in May 2021 caused an eternal break. Popp had to tremble and work hard for a long time until the return was perfect.
Maybe it helped that she comes from Witten. From this small coal and steel town between the big old industrial cities of Dortmund and Bochum. There, where hard work is the DNA of the people. Her way back, her constant struggle with her own body, is now being rewarded in England. It is a fairytale journey that amazes her colleagues and fascinates the country. Popp has never been more important than in the summer of 2022. She feels it herself. She lives it herself. “You saw it with my very first goal here, but also in the other games that I’m a bit more emotional than I might be otherwise always was,” she says.
And in the moment of great happiness, she thinks a little bit about the hard way she went, that she had to go. “Being here and having the opportunity to perform like this, thank God to be fit at the right moment – that obviously makes me very, very proud,” said the VfL Wolfsburg striker. “I have to say a big, big thank you to everyone who has walked this path with me. I’m incredibly happy that I can play here and that we made it to the final.”
Pop can play. She even has to. It wasn’t a foregone conclusion before the tournament. Lea Schüller was actually the first choice in the center. But then Corona caught her. Schüller had to be isolated. It’s a special point that Popp, of all people, who injured herself so often, now benefits from the bad luck of a competitor. One of the imponderables of this story is not only the actually intended role as a reservist, but also the position that she now plays. In the club she was no longer a striker, but had her place in midfield. But it’s just part of this heroic story. Popp threw herself in, she marched and worked her way into the heart of the nation. She was finally what she should have been long ago. The key player.
She may not be the most elegant footballer, not the most spectacular, but in England she is the greediest. “Poppi is just a beast in there,” said the young and impressive midfield boss Lena Oberdorf about the serial clipper: “We need that from her.” Popp goes every way on the pitch. She doesn’t linger, she lurks. All over. She forces mistakes, like against Austria. She punches her way vehemently against every opponent. But she can also dish out if necessary. And the striker knows best where this greed comes from: “To be honest, I have the feeling that I’m experiencing all this much, much more right now. Enjoying the moments a lot more. And – yes – football itself appreciate it more than before. Being able to be here again, I appreciate that incredibly.”
The trained animal keeper is appreciated, no, loved by her teammates. When the party was about to start in the square, they looked around. Pop wasn’t there. She had to accept the award as the best player of the game. The team rescheduled, ran to “Poppi” and celebrated. Entry into the final. But even more their amazing leader. Your goal and mentality monster. “Nobody was expecting us. And now we’re playing England in the final in Wembley in front of 90,000 fans. That was our dream – we made it come true.” It shouldn’t have been the last.
