With a thumping victory, the FC Bayern women's soccer team ensured clear conditions in the championship race against VfL Wolfsburg on the last day of the women's Bundesliga. It's a very special game for a player.
The still missing win against Turbine Potsdam is on the way early – Bayern's players celebrate the title
It was one of those “of all things” moments that often occur in football: it was Saki Kumagai of all people who gave FC Bayern an early lead against relegated Turbine Potsdam on the 22nd and last matchday of the women's Bundesliga, and with it the nerves in the championship race calmed down With a two-point lead over pursuers VfL Wolfsburg, the Munich team “only” needed one win to clinch the championship title. How dramatically such a mandatory task can fail was demonstrated the day before at the season finale of the men's Bundesliga Borussia Dortmund – in favor of the men's team of FC Bayern.
Perhaps it was also BVB's warning example that Kumagai encouraged a little extra to ensure clear conditions early on. At her team's first corner kick, she went forward and dusted the ball, which had been extended by national player Lina Magull, at the far post (4th minute). After the change of sides, she also scored the 9-0 in the meantime. In the end it was 11:1 (7:0) for the Munich team. The fact that Wolfsburg won 2-1 (2-1) against SC Freiburg was no longer significant.
In her last game for FC Bayern, Saki Kumagai wins her first title with Munich
Kumagai, who won the World Cup with Japan in 2011, switched from Olympique Lyon, Europe's best team, to Munich in 2021 to also win titles with FC Bayern. In her 64th and last competitive game for the FCB women, she finally fulfilled her wish. Her part in Bayern Women's fourth German championship title since the Bundesliga was founded in 1990 was huge: as head of defence, Kumagai was largely responsible for ending the season as the top defender, conceding just seven goals, and she scored three goals up front – two of them hers last game.
Coach Alexander Straus achieves a masterpiece
It was also a special game for Kumagai's coach Alexander Straus. The Norwegian won the championship in his first year in Munich. The 47-year-old started his coaching career in his home country in the men's division – initially in the lower leagues, where he was successful as an assistant coach. His former head coach later brought him to the elite series as an assistant to first-division club Strømsgodset IF. Straus initially worked as an assistant coach, then as a specialist in player development. In 2017 he left Strømsgodset and switched to the women's division. He was head coach of the women's team at IL Sandviken in the 1st division for one season, then took over as head coach of the Norway U23 women's national team and later the Norway U19 national team.
He eventually returned to Sandviken and won the club's first championship with the team from the western Norwegian city of Bergen in 2021. In 2022, IL Sandviken merged with Brann Bergen and Straus was thus the first head coach at SK Brann Kvinner – he didn't stay long, however, but moved to Munich in the summer of 2022 and tackled the company's championship.
Everything under control: Coach Alexander Straus wins the championship in his first year with Bayern
Although they were eliminated by Arsenal WFC in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and Wolfsburg were too strong in the semi-finals of the DFB Cup, the championship means at least as much to the Munich team as one of the other titles. The consistency of Straus's team was particularly impressive: after losing 2-1 to the “wolves” on matchday 5, the team went on a winning streak: winning until the goalless draw at Bayer Leverkusen on the previous matchday the Munich women 15 times in a row. The final victory against Potsdam was the 17th consecutive league game without defeat.
“Everyone is part of the success. To do this, everyone has to understand what his or her job is and do it,” Straus recently explained his philosophy of success in an interview with the Munich “Abendzeitung”. Not only the current success is important to him, but also the traces that he will leave as a trainer in the club. “Long after my time, people should recognize how FC Bayern Munich has internalized playing.” He has already left his first footprint as a coach of FC Bayern Munich by winning the championship title.
Joint championship celebration
Incidentally, the FC Bayern men were also sitting in the stands of the stadium on the FC Bayern campus – already decked out in white shirts, traditional trousers and waistcoats. They watched their colleagues how to wrap up a championship without stress. Jamal Musiala, Thomas Müller and Co. clapped politely with every goal and also cheered the handover of the championship trophy by national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. Then we went straight to the heart of the city of Munich, to the joint championship celebration for the men's and women's teams on the town hall balcony at Munich's Marienplatz.
Alexandra Popp – 134 goals*
Not only in the national team, but also in the Bundesliga, the goalscorer of VfL Wolfsburg is consistently accurate. Popp wins the championship seven times with the “wolves” and regularly contributes goals to the successes. The striker is only temporarily slowed down by serious injuries. In 2023 she scored 16 goals this season for the first time in her career. (*as of May 28, 2023)
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Shelley Thompson – 136 goals
The striker, whose father is from Zimbabwe and whose mother is South African, grew up in Germany and plays for German junior national teams. In her Bundesliga career (2000 – 2013) she often changes clubs: she is under contract with Essen, Duisburg, HSV, Wolfsburg, Leverkusen and Bad Neuenahr. In 2005 she became the top scorer in the Bundesliga for Wolfsburg.
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Celia Sasic – 138 goals
Born in Bonn, the daughter of a Cameroonian and a French woman, she went on the hunt for goals as Celia Okoyino da Mbabi until her marriage in 2013. From 2002 to 2013 she played for SC Bad Neuenahr. At the end of her career, she wore the jersey of 1. FFC Frankfurt for two seasons, where she was top scorer in the Bundesliga twice.
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Petra Wimbersky – 142 goals
The 2007 world champion began her Bundesliga career in her hometown of Munich, where she was promoted to the Bundesliga in 2000 with FC Bayern. Later, Wimbersky also played for Turbine Potsdam (2002 – 2006) and 1. FFC Frankfurt (2006 – 2010), before returning home to FC Bayern (2010 – 2012) to finish her career (2010 – 2012).
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Mandy Islacker – 146 goals*< /h2>
The two-time top scorer cannon winner is a real “wandering bird”: In her Bundesliga career (since 2004), Islacker has never stayed with the same club for more than three seasons. With the stations SGS Essen, FCR Duisburg, FC Bayern, Duisburg again, BV Cloppenburg, 1st FFC Frankfurt, Bayern again and 1st FC Cologne, the list of employers is quite long. (*As of May 28, 2022)
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Martina Müller – 210 goals
The 1.61 meter tall goalscorer was successful in her early years as a Bundesliga player for FSV Frankfurt (1998 – 2000) and SC Bad Neuenahr (2000 – 2005). But she finally became an institution at VfL Wolfsburg (2005 – 2015), with whom she won the championship, the DFB Cup and the Champions League twice. Curiously, Müller never gets the top scorer cannon.
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Kerstin Garefrekes – 246 goals
Attacker is active for FFC Heike Rheine (1998 – 2004) and 1. FFC Frankfurt (2004 – 2016) in the Bundesliga. In her last season in Rheine, in 2004, she became Bundesliga top scorer. The tall Garefrekes, who became world and European champions twice with the national team, impresses above all with her header power.
- The Bundesliga's top scorers
Birgit Prinz – 267 goals
Alongside Garefrekes, Birgit Prinz, the DFB's record goalscorer, has stormed for 1. FFC Frankfurt in many Bundesliga seasons. Prinz was able to secure the top scorer cannon four times in her career, seven times between 1999 and 2011 with the 1. FFC champion. There are also two more championships with FSV Frankfurt (1995 and 1998).
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Conny Pohlers – 276 goals
Conny Pohlers, who played for Turbine Potsdam, TuS Niederkirchen, 1. FFC Frankfurt and VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga between 1994 and 2014, has one less top scorer than Prinz. Their collection of titles is impressive: Pohlers has won the German championship five times, the DFB Cup six times and the Champions League four times.
- The Bundesliga's top scorers
Inka Grings – 314 goals
She is the ultimate when it comes to scoring as many Bundesliga goals as possible. Like her men's counterpart Gerd Müller, Grings scores all of her top-flight goals for the same club. From 1995 to 2011 he worked exclusively for FCR Duisburg. She only wins the championship once, but can secure the goalscorer cannon a total of six times.
