Hannelore Ratzeburg has come a long way in German women's football.
Or even better: all the way.
When she played her first game in the jersey of Grün-Weiß Eimsbüttel - the DFB had just lifted its football ban for women - "there were 200 men standing on the edge of the field laughing," said the 70-year-old .
Ratzeburg has experienced the times when their sport was laughed at in this country. Has fought at the forefront as a pioneer in those decades when her sport was not taken seriously, to say the least. As a functionary with a seat on the DFB Presidium (as the only woman) has seen the progress and partly helped. In view of almost 45 years of service for the interests of women's football, Ratzeburg can consider it a success that the DFB mocked one thing above all about the last international match of the year: That the World Cup qualifier on Wednesday evening in Portugal at 7 p.m. was not broadcast on public television, but "only" on the ZDF livestream.
Various other sports would now be extremely happy to be broadcast on such a weighty platform.
In the constant demands from the scene for more visibility for women's football, it is sometimes overlooked that the product also has its weaknesses.
And that doesn't mean the German national team, which has some very good players and a very skilled national coach to offer, although the general public is not familiar with it.
But neither in terms of atmosphere nor of the quality of the sporting confrontations, the women's national soccer team has many holidays to offer.
Which is because the performance gap between the top nations and the rest is still considerable.
Six wins with 31-2 goals
Now the Portuguese were praised in the run-up to the game as a team of rank, which represents a real hurdle for the DFB-Elf. And yet in front of only 500 spectators in the Estádio de São Luís in Faro (keyword atmosphere) again only the familiar image from qualifying games: The German team also dominated the "toughest" group opponent from kick-off almost at will and eliminated with three goals in the In the first 28 minutes there were also supposed remaining doubts as to who will qualify in Group H for the 2023 World Championships in Australia and New Zealand after six wins from six games (31: 2 goals).
The 3-1 win in Portugal was the result of a strong performance, especially in the first half. But at the end of a 2021 international match year marked by high victories against international second-class competition, the national coach is looking forward to the new year. In February there is a preparatory tournament in England for the European Championships that will take place there in the summer. Martina Voss-Tecklenburg rightly speaks of “real endurance tests” in view of the games against hosts England, Olympic champions Canada and the strong Spaniards, who are mainly recruited from the currently best club team, FC Barcelona.
After three years without a summer tournament and previously the two failures at the 2019 World Cup and the 2017 European Championship (each out of the quarter-finals), the urgently needed turnaround is to take place in the summer of 2022. It should be the semi-finals, according to DFB director Oliver Bierhoff. And DFB President Rainer Koch said after three days with the team in Faro: "If the team continues to develop like this, it will be one of the favorites in England."
Koch believes it is unlikely that the DFB will lead a dual leadership after the Bundestag in March because an amendment to the statutes would be necessary. But: “There will definitely be more than one woman on the next DFB Presidium,” said Koch. The successors of Hannelore Ratzeburg enter a broad field in the field of women's football. With challenges, such as the sharply declining number of girls' and women's teams in the clubs in this country and the starving marketing of the women's Bundesliga. And opportunities, such as the promising application for the 2027 World Cup as a co-host. Hannelore Ratzeburg will certainly continue to act as a consultant, even if no longer as an asset. The trip to Portugal was her last as a head of delegation for the German team."What Hannelore achieved for women's football cannot be put into words," says Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, "that is a lifetime achievement."