Cart  

(empty)

Magnetic Bookmarks

Newsletter

July 2022

 

- Football World Cup 2014 -

Weltmeisterschaftsball 2014

 

I wasn't born with a ball on my foot, but I grew up in a football-loving family. My grandfather was the treasurer of the local football club, my uncles Waldemar, Hermann and Ernst were excellent centre forwards as well as coaches, my grandmother washed the teams' jerseys – and even my not very sporty father had a job. He was the ball and groundsman. I helped him pump up and wax the leather balls and, together with my mother, mow the lawn and re-weld the lines on the pitch.
On Saturdays, the whole extended family would gather around the radio to follow the live broadcast of the Bundesliga matches. When my parents were the first to buy a television set in 1963, everyone in our living room and kitchen joined in the excitement during the big games. The 'oh no!' and 'oh dear!', moans, screams and cheers of my relatives were contagious and gripped me too. Of course, especially at our club's home games on Sundays on the football field.
Girl or not. I wanted to be a footballer and actively participate in this running and battling, kicking and heading, passing and receiving, defending and chasing. My uncle Hermann was the coach for the children and youths. I begged until he let me join in. That was in 1966, the year of the World Cup – and girls were not yet wanted at all in football. Luckily, my friend Walter was at my side during training. I was rather embarrassing for the other boys. It didn't help that I wore my hair so short that I could hardly be distinguished from a boy.

In the following months, training became the highlight of every week. In snow and rain, in the light and under floodlights, we ran round and round the court, practising passing techniques, dribbling and powerful finishes. I never stood in goal, I didn't get to know the goalkeeper's fear of penalties. But I did learn the fear of the penalty taker: when I was supposed to take a penalty in my first real game, I was so excited that I tripped over the ball. How embarrassing! "Never mind," Walter comforted me. "It can happen to anyone," my uncle cheered me up. But suddenly all my confidence that I could make it as a girl in a boys' team was gone. I gave away my football shoes with the studs and let my hair grow. Only now did I start playing with dolls instead of the ball. But whenever the big championships are broadcast on TV, football captivates me again – even during the 2014 World Cup, when I painted this ball. Yes, I do like our traditional family sport and I get excited when the whistle blows for an important match. Every time a penalty is taken, my breath catches – as if I were there and on the ball myself.


> order magnetic bookmark motiv  'Football World Cup 2014'