“With all my love, but “What man, let alone a footballer, takes a woman seriously when she wants to tell you something about tactics or football?” says a German journalist in one of the many open forums following the promotion of Marie-Louse Eta to the Union Berlin first team.
“Sorry but that’s sexism”responds the fast team, since it has put its shield on its coach from the first minute in which he announced her as the savior of the veteran Berlin team, which is flirting with relegation with five games to go. “Let’s be clear: she is a woman and she has coached children. Does that qualify her as a Bundesliga coach?”adds another angry fan today.
Horst Held, head of the Berlin Union.
Like these, responses abound, on the team’s official channels, from fans or rivals openly talking about assured relegation, when in reality it is 8 points from the last place (St. Pauli) which borders on danger. “A coach is nothing other than a teacher. One admires him. What can a 14-year-old boy, who runs faster, shoots harder, jumps higher and is physically more robust, learn from a woman?” is another message to the club.
“I have seen the sexist comments. At the same time, I am reluctant to give these people a voice. For me, it is purely about the quality of leadership, and we are fully convinced that Louise is capable of carrying out this task. I find it outrageous that we still have to justify this in 2026,” says Horst Heldt, team football director.
“We are talking about a highly competent leader. We in the Union unanimously support this decision and will do everything possible to ensure that there is no further debate about it in the future. “This whole thing is just embarrassing.”.
Maria Louise Eta
Eta has become the first female head coach in the history of the men’s Bundesliga (and any major league), although it will only be until June to then move on to the women’s team. “Thus she breaks a glass ceiling to which she does not give importance. She is clear that she is here because of her merits, not because of her gender,” they say on the team.
A FIFA agent and lawyer says that in 2023, a former football agent publicly asked whether it should be allowedMarie-Louise will enter a professional men’s locker room. She had just been appointed assistant coach at Union Berlin, and someone with a platform decided that the most pressing question about her appointment was not her coaching philosophy, nor her development history with the youth teams, nor what she would bring to the senior team. Only if I would share/enter a locker room full of guys. That’s how things still stand.
Marie-Louise Eta
You will have the support of the team for sure. They have already shown it to you. The scream “Fussballgott” (God of football) It is a tradition after announcing each player. In 2024, with his arrival on the assistant bench and after the warning from the voice of the stadium, he changed to “Fussballgottin” (Football Goddess). And fortunately, only the results will judge her.
