Alexandra Popp

Alexandra Popp
Popp in August 2011
Personal information
Full name Alexandra Popp
Date of birth (1991-04-06) 6 April 1991
Place of birth Witten, Germany
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 VfL Wolfsburg
Number 11
Youth career
FC Silschede
1. FFC Recklinghausen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 1. FFC Recklinghausen
2008–2012 FCR 2001 Duisburg 80 (31)
2012– VfL Wolfsburg 98 (49)
National team‡
2006 Germany U15 5 (0)
2006–2008 Germany U17 25 (17)
2009 Germany U19 8 (6)
2009–2011 Germany U20 9 (14)
2010– Germany 91 (44)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 September 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:01, 6 October 2018 (UTC)

Alexandra Popp (German pronunciation: [pɔp]; born 6 April 1991) is a German footballer and Olympic gold medalist. She plays as a striker for VfL Wolfsburg and the German national team.[1] She previously played for FCR 2001 Duisburg and 1. FFC Recklinghausen. She was twice named German Footballer of the Year in 2014 and 2016.

Alex Popp with Duisburg in 2011.

Career

Club

Popp started her career at FC Silschede, before moving to 1. FFC Recklinghausen. She joined the Bundesliga side FCR 2001 Duisburg in 2008. She had also been approached by French champions Olympique Lyonnais at the time, but chose Duisburg. Popp made her Bundesliga debut in September 2008 against Herforder SV and scored her first two goals three weeks later in an 8–0 win over TSV Crailsheim.

In her first year at Duisburg, Popp won the Double: the 2009 UEFA Women's Cup and the 2009 German Cup. She was awarded the 2009 Fritz Walter medal in silver as the year's second best female junior player.[2] One year later, she again claimed the German Cup title and finished runner-up with Duisburg in the 2009–10 Bundesliga season. Because Duisburg had major injury worries during the 2010–11 season, Popp played the majority of matches at left back.

International

At the 2008 UEFA U-17 Women's Championship, Popp won her first international title with Germany, scoring the team's second goal in the final. The same year, she reached third-place at the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. In February 2010, Popp made her debut for Germany's senior national team in a friendly match against North Korea. Less than two weeks later she scored her first two international goals at the 2010 Algarve Cup in a 7–0 win over Finland.

Popp returned to junior competition for the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, which was held on home soil in Germany. She won the title with the German team and was the tournament's break-out star, being honoured as the best player and top goalscorer. She reached ten goals and scored in every game.[3] Popp was then called up for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup squad.[1]

She was part of the squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics, where Germany won the gold medal.[4]

International goals

Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first:

Source:[1]

Personal life

Popp attended Gesamtschule Berger Feld in Gelsenkirchen, one of four facilities certified as "elite schools of football" by the German Football Association. She was the school's sole female pupil and could only attend courtesy of a special permit. She studied and trained with junior players of the German men's Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04. Popp left school after the 12th grade with a Fachabitur diploma.[5] Following a one-year internship at a physiotherapist, Popp is currently completing a three-year apprenticeship to become a zookeeper at Tierpark Essehof in Lehre.[6][7]

Honours

Popp with the DFB-Pokal trophy in 2013.

Club

FCR 2001 Duisburg
VfL Wolfsburg

International

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Nationalspielerin Alexandra Popp" (in German). DFB.de. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Hegering und Popp ausgezeichnet" (in German). RP Online. 7 August 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  3. ↑ "Popp and Kulig in dreamland". FIFA.com. 1 August 2010. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  4. ↑ "Gold for Germany as Neid finishes in style". fifa.com. 19 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Eine Karriere im ICE-Tempo". DerWesten.de. 20 May 2009. Archived from the original on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  6. ↑ lt. ausführlichem Interview in: RevierSport 9/2013, S. 30 f
  7. ↑ rs (6 June 2012). "VfL-Star Alex Popp: Job in Essehof". waz-online.de. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  8. ↑ Golden player 2008
  9. ↑ Golden Ball 2010
  10. ↑ Golden Shoe 2010
  11. ↑ "Fußballerin des Jahres 2014: Das Ergebnis" (in German). kicker.de. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "Alexandra Popp ist Fußballerin des Jahres" (in German). ndr.de. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
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