Melanie Behringer is not the type of person to look back. What’s the good in living in the past? The future is a lot more exciting. But there’s one thing that she hasn’t forgotten and it came in the 2008/2009 season. Behringer was already playing for the women’s national team and played for FC Bayern. On the last matchday of the season, Munich had the chance to become champions- it would have been a sensation. But then came one of the most exciting finales to a Bundesliga season ever. Potsdam won the title thanks to a marginally better goal difference by just the one goal over FC Bayern. Despite the disappointment, she looked forward not back.
The best evidence of that came on September 17th when she played in her 100th game for the DFB Team and the attacking midfielder was very happy after scoring a goal. “It was a fantastic day for me,” said Behringer. “It’s always great to play for the national team and it’s where you meet up with a lot of long-time companions.” She has been an integral part of the women’s national team under coach Silvia Neid. At the age of 28, she’s one of the most experienced players on the team.
“It’s important that we’ve already started the preparation to compete against the best in the world”
And also to formulate confident goals: “We want to play a huge part in the World Cup in Canada next year. I think that a Germany team will always be among the favourites. But we shouldn’t underestimate the fact that we’ll be playing on artificial pitches. It’ll be a big challenge and adjustment for everyone.” Behringer will be playing for the DFB Team on Saturday in Offenbach (14:00), against a very strong opponent: “France will play a huge part in the World Cup.” But Behringer is confident: “It’s important for us that we’ve already started the preparation to compete against the best in the world.”
For Behringer, it’s a kind of meeting with her past. Up until a few weeks ago, she played about ten kilometres away for 1. FFC Frankfurt, where she played for the last four years. “There were a lot of great moments. It’s a shame that we couldn’t win the title with the amount of quality in our team,” said Behringer. That’s one of the few titles that still evades her.
Career not over by a long-shot
Melanie Behringer already has a remarkable career behind her. And she’s not finished yet. It almost seems that she’s reached another high after her transfer to FC Bayern this summer. In Munich, she’s the experienced player amongst the youngsters, the expert and the undisputed captain. “It’s nice to have such a significance here,” said Behringer. “It’s like a home from home.”
Behringer hasn’t won anything with FC Bayern yet. But there’s little doubt that she has laid the foundations to add further success. The attacking midfielder is a World Cup and European champion, she has won the DFB cup, and also won a Bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. What’s missing from her collection? The German title. Will she be able to achieve it at FC Bayern? “We have a good and talented team,” said Behringer. “But the favourites are Frankfurt, Potsdam and obviously Wolfsburg. We want to close the gap year after year.”
Go to the top with FC Bayern
However, there are few that believe that FC Bayern won’t cause a shock this year, if the team performs consistently. That’s also one of the biggest tasks of Behringer and so far, it’s going quite well. Munich’s women have shown in the first few matchdays of the Allianz Frauen-Bundesliga that they’re a team to be reckoned with. Among other results, they’ve secured good draws against Frankfurt and Wolfsburg. You can tell that there’s something big going on here, even if Behringer doesn’t want to look too far ahead: “We’re on the right track but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We have to take it step by step.”
Behringer has always thought that and has never been wrong. She has learnt in the past that you don’t get given anything in life and that’s the same on the football pitch. Behringer has four older brothers that she always took for a kick about on the ground behind her parents’ house. Today the pitch is named after Melanie Behringer in recognition of her achievements.
Beginning in Schwarzwald
She began playing football for SpVgg Utzenfeld in Schönau, which is where Jogi Löw also comes from. She initially started playing with boys and had to stop playing at one point as there were no girls teams nearby. She was then picked for the youth team at FC Hausen, before being scouted by SC Freiburg. “As a child, I had two dreams. The first was to play for SC Freiburg and the second was to wear the DFB shirt. And now I can say that both have become a reality,” said Behringer.
However, she isn’t going to sit back and relax. “I am thankful that I have been able to achieve what I have. But I’m always hungry for more.” And the big events aren’t far away. First up is the World Cup in Canada, but she is also looking to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero: “It would be amazing if we could qualify. I would definitely like to experience the Olympics again.”
Melanie Behringer is not the type of person to look back. What’s the good in living in the past? The future is a lot more exciting. But there’s one thing that she hasn’t forgotten and it came in the 2008/2009 season. Behringer was already playing for the women’s national team and played for FC Bayern. On the last matchday of the season, Munich had the chance to become champions- it would have been a sensation. But then came one of the most exciting finales to a Bundesliga season ever. Potsdam won the title thanks to a marginally better goal difference by just the one goal over FC Bayern. Despite the disappointment, she looked forward not back.
The best evidence of that came on September 17th when she played in her 100th game for the DFB Team and the attacking midfielder was very happy after scoring a goal. “It was a fantastic day for me,” said Behringer. “It’s always great to play for the national team and it’s where you meet up with a lot of long-time companions.” She has been an integral part of the women’s national team under coach Silvia Neid. At the age of 28, she’s one of the most experienced players on the team.
“It’s important that we’ve already started the preparation to compete against the best in the world”
And also to formulate confident goals: “We want to play a huge part in the World Cup in Canada next year. I think that a Germany team will always be among the favourites. But we shouldn’t underestimate the fact that we’ll be playing on artificial pitches. It’ll be a big challenge and adjustment for everyone.” Behringer will be playing for the DFB Team on Saturday in Offenbach (14:00), against a very strong opponent: “France will play a huge part in the World Cup.” But Behringer is confident: “It’s important for us that we’ve already started the preparation to compete against the best in the world.”
For Behringer, it’s a kind of meeting with her past. Up until a few weeks ago, she played about ten kilometres away for 1. FFC Frankfurt, where she played for the last four years. “There were a lot of great moments. It’s a shame that we couldn’t win the title with the amount of quality in our team,” said Behringer. That’s one of the few titles that still evades her.
Career not over by a long-shot
Melanie Behringer already has a remarkable career behind her. And she’s not finished yet. It almost seems that she’s reached another high after her transfer to FC Bayern this summer. In Munich, she’s the experienced player amongst the youngsters, the expert and the undisputed captain. “It’s nice to have such a significance here,” said Behringer. “It’s like a home from home.”
Behringer hasn’t won anything with FC Bayern yet. But there’s little doubt that she has laid the foundations to add further success. The attacking midfielder is a World Cup and European champion, she has won the DFB cup, and also won a Bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. What’s missing from her collection? The German title. Will she be able to achieve it at FC Bayern? “We have a good and talented team,” said Behringer. “But the favourites are Frankfurt, Potsdam and obviously Wolfsburg. We want to close the gap year after year.”
Go to the top with FC Bayern
However, there are few that believe that FC Bayern won’t cause a shock this year, if the team performs consistently. That’s also one of the biggest tasks of Behringer and so far, it’s going quite well. Munich’s women have shown in the first few matchdays of the Allianz Frauen-Bundesliga that they’re a team to be reckoned with. Among other results, they’ve secured good draws against Frankfurt and Wolfsburg. You can tell that there’s something big going on here, even if Behringer doesn’t want to look too far ahead: “We’re on the right track but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We have to take it step by step.”
Behringer has always thought that and has never been wrong. She has learnt in the past that you don’t get given anything in life and that’s the same on the football pitch. Behringer has four older brothers that she always took for a kick about on the ground behind her parents’ house. Today the pitch is named after Melanie Behringer in recognition of her achievements.
Beginning in Schwarzwald
She began playing football for SpVgg Utzenfeld in Schönau, which is where Jogi Löw also comes from. She initially started playing with boys and had to stop playing at one point as there were no girls teams nearby. She was then picked for the youth team at FC Hausen, before being scouted by SC Freiburg. “As a child, I had two dreams. The first was to play for SC Freiburg and the second was to wear the DFB shirt. And now I can say that both have become a reality,” said Behringer.
However, she isn’t going to sit back and relax. “I am thankful that I have been able to achieve what I have. But I’m always hungry for more.” And the big events aren’t far away. First up is the World Cup in Canada, but she is also looking to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero: “It would be amazing if we could qualify. I would definitely like to experience the Olympics again.”
