Arminia Bielefeld’s Sophia Thiemann on the importance of role models in women’s football

Thiemann was speaking in a media round table partnership between the German side and South African side, Kaizer Chiefs Ladies.

The forward was asked by moderator and SABC Sport analyst Indira Albuquerque  about the importance of playing under her former coach and ex German international Annabel Jäger, who mentored the team from 2023 to the end of the 2025/26 season.

Thiemann says she learnt a lot from playing alongside and under Jäger who has played the highest form of football.

"I have had the privilege to play with her, before she was my coach I was a player on her team and of course playing for the German National team is the ultimate goal you wanna achieve as a football player, not only for Germany but for any country,” Thiemann said. 

“I did not achieve that goal which is fine but having been able to play or be coached by someone who has is of course very interesting and the experience and anything you can learn from her or from someone who has played on that highest level is really great."

READ: Gerda Steyn happy with her Joburg 10km display as she prepares for ultra marathons

The rise of the popularity of women’s football over the years has been massive, with the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup reaching a media engagement audience of 2 billion according to Nielsen Sport.

The 30-year-old has more on what she had to do to finally feel like she belonged in the sport.

“When I first started playing football, I used to play handball before and then we moved to a different country and then I started playing football because my brother was playing,” she said.

“There was always a question of whether I belonged there or not, of course because everyone was obviously male, it was kind of an odd feeling to start off there but when we got to play and they started to appreciate what I was able to do.”

“I didn't even answer the question of 'Do I feel I belonged?' I just told myself that I belonged. So, I think that is the key point when it comes to the belonging issue, when you stop asking yourself do I belong I think you already do."