So good has Alexandra Popp been at the European Championship that she turned up at a press conference before Sunday’s final wearing a false moustache and jokingly offering herself up as the goalscorer Germany need – not just in the women’s team but the men’s team too.
Popp, who is playing her first Euros after injury ruled her out of 2013 and 2017 and having overcome a career-threatening injury that had might have forced her to miss this tournament as well, has scored in every game this summer. Her total of six goals makes her joint top scorer with Beth Mead and has taken her to a career total of 59 goals in 119 international games. All that at a time when the men’s team have struggled to find a goalscorer.
On Friday she sat down before the media and pulled off her Covid mask to reveal a moustache underneath. “Hello,” she said in an exaggeratedly deep voice before falling about laughing. “I’m Alexander,” she said. Alongside her, teammate Kathy Hendrich cracked up, saying: “It suits you.”
“The German Football Association has good physios with kinesio tape: I quickly cut my moustache from it,” Popp said, looking a little like Homer Simpson playing Guy Incognito. “I think this [joke] fits with the mood in the team,” she added. “The final on Sunday will be intense mentally and physically,” Popp said, having by now taken off her moustache, but there was no sign of nerves.
Satirical news websites in Germany suggested head coach Hansi Flick is interested in calling up ALEXANDER Popp to the men's 2022 World Cup.
— DW Sports (@dw_sports) July 29, 2022
At Germany's press conference ahead of the #WEURO2022 final against England, the striker made his debut in front of the media 😂🥸#ENGGER pic.twitter.com/YOACRNQn7T
“I think the pressure is more on the English side, precisely because it takes place in their own country,” Popp said, recalling their experience of hosting the World Cup, when they were knocked out in the quarter-finals. “We know that from 2011: suddenly everyone expects something from you. We have nothing left to lose and we have an attitude with which we can go into the game completely free.”
Inspiration for the joke had come with comments on social media and elsewhere, with the satirical website Der Postillon among many to compare her favourably with the men’s team, publishing a spoof article headlined: “Hansi Flick chooses newcomer Alexander Papp for the Nationalmannschaft.”
When Kateryna Monzul blew the full-time whistle to end the Euro 2022 final it marked the end of a long and emotional journey. The Ukrainian referee escaped Kharkiv in March after living underground at her parents’ home for five days following the Russian invasion. With her sisters and nephews, she drove through Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic before reaching Germany.
'We didn’t have any idea what the next step was for us,' Monzul [pictured] told uefa.com. Uefa, the Italian football federation and the Italian referees’ body worked together and Monzul was able to resume refereeing in women’s Serie A and the men’s Serie A youth championship. In April, she was confirmed as one of the 13 referees at this summer's Euros
After taking charge of Spain’s 4-1 win against Finland, Austria’s 1-0 defeat of Norway and Sweden’s 1-0 quarter-final win over Belgium, Monzul was picked to referee the final at Wembley. 'I thank all the football family,' Monzul said. 'The most important thing is to stop this war – world peace is the most important thing. It’s my [hope] for everybody.'
The article ran a photo of Popp with a moustache added, asking: “is this young man the missing piece in the jigsaw for Qatar?” It began: “National coach Hansi Flick surprisingly called up previously unknown striker Alexander Papp. ‘Everyone knows that we have had big problems in the striker position in the past,’ Flick said. ‘We want to start a new chapter with Alexandra, er, Alexander. She, er, he, has excellent positional play, a fantastic nose for goals and is ice cold when finishing. She just has one thing to do in England first.’”
There was one problem, Popp said on Friday: when the men’s World Cup comes round in November, she will still be competing in the Champions League with her club, Wolfsburg.
