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Marie-Louise Eta Debuts as Union Berlin Coach in Historic Bundesliga First, Loses 2-1 to Wolfsburg

She now has four games to secure Union Berlin’s Bundesliga place with public backing after online abuse.

Overview

  • Eta’s first match in charge Saturday ended in a 2-1 home defeat to Wolfsburg in Berlin.
  • With four matches left, Union are 11th and six points above Germany’s 16th-place relegation playoff, with a trip to RB Leipzig on Friday.
  • Union Berlin appointed her interim head coach on April 11 after firing Steffen Baumgart, tasking her with seeing out the final five games.
  • Club leaders said they have full confidence in her after sexist attacks on social media, and FIFA executive Jill Ellis praised the appointment in a letter.
  • Eta’s rise followed years inside the system as a 2010 Women’s Champions League winner with Turbine Potsdam, a youth coach at Werder Bremen and with German youth teams, and later Union’s U19 coach and first-team assistant.