As DFB.de looks back at the stories which made 2013 such an unforgettable year for German football, we present part two of the DFB.de users’ personal highlights.
Ramona Lottner: “Like any little boy, my five-year-old son Niklas loves football, and so we wanted to enrol him in a club. No problem, we thought. After we’d arranged for him to have a trial with a local team, we then needed to get him some equipment. So like the loving mother I am, I scampered around all the shops to buy him boots, kit and gloves. The day arrived, but as I went to the car to drive Niklas to training, he burst into tears. So we went back inside, and I tried to find out what had made him so sad and why he didn’t want to go to football. Then I got my answer: “I only want to play for Germany.“
Juliane Turloff: “My personal highlight this year was supporting our girls at the European Championships in Sweden. As a volunteer I was able to gain some fantastically unique experience in Växjö, where three of Germany’s matches were played. And as if that wasn’t enough, it then got even better: while I was in Växjö, some Germany fans mistook me for Lira Bajramal! It was a really funny story, as i had been reading her autobiography – My goal in Life – going into the tournament. Lira’s story really made an impression on me, and it was seeing her live that made me especially happy. Then on 20 July, the day before the quarter-final against Italy, I was out and about in the city and suddenly I saw the entire Germany team standing right in front of me. My heart started racing and I felt like my knees were about to give in. I had to gather all my composure to ask Lira for a photo with me. You can see the result for yourself. The resemblance is uncanny, right?“
Christoph Huber: “In our second season after getting promoted, DJK Obererlbach went into the campaign with the aim of staying up. The Neumarkt/Jura middle league was really exciting up until the final day, and in our last game of the season, the boys managed to finish level with Röttenbach bei Roth in the relegation play-off spot. We played a decider against them and comfortably won it 3-0, meaning we would contest the relegation play-off with, strangely enough, TSV Röthenbach bei Sankt Wolfgang. It was a hot Wednesday evening when we took to the pitch at the SC 04 Schwabach stadium, where a crowd of 550 had gathered to watch us play out a fantastic game. Röthenbach had the first opportunity, but then we took control and despite missing a penalty, won that game 3-0 as well. All season long we had been everyone’s favourite to be relegated, but we managed to stay up, and this season we’re now fifth in the table, with the same squad of players! It’s a story that only football could have written and an experience we’ll never forget!“
Lisa Kirschner: “My personal highlight this year was definitely Germany winning the Women’s EUROs. I also had a dream come true in October when I met my role model Dzsenifer Marozsan at a Bundesliga game in Jena. It was just amazing! She gives me a lot of strength to believe in myself, even when things get tough.“
Conny Schweiker: “The absolute highlight for me this year was the game that Sportfreunde Neckarwestheim played against a team of exchange children from Argentina, who stayed with us for two weeks in the summer. As the mother of a ten-year-old boy it was really very moving. There was a huge crowd to watch the game, including Eberhardt Gienger, a member of Parliament. Before the game the national anthems were played and the kids exchanged presents with each other! We even had a professional referee. Our boys lost in the end – the kids from Argentina were simply fantastic and won almost every game in the two weeks they were here. But the partnership’s been extended and next time our children will be travelling to South America. For me, it’s clear that football brings people together and even a language barrier isn’t a problem. The kids got on really well with each other, and us adults actually learned a few things from them!“
Josephin Fender: “This year my club’s women’s team won the treble! It was fantastic, and as kid I’d always dreamed of playing for VfL Wolfsburg, but I never trusted myself to go to training in my village. However, after talking my mother into driving the 100 kilometres to Wolfsburg after the girls’ unbelievable season, and seeing the best team in the world dancing in the rain, I swore to myself that I would become a footballer, and – to return the favour to my mother – that Germany’s brilliant women’s team would win the EUROs this year! Now I’m playing up front for SG Beckedorf / Hermannsburg and dreaming, along with my team-mates, that some day we’ll get to play against VfL. Until then I’m trying to get to every Wolfsburg game, to support the team and maybe learn a few things to improve my own game.“
