Birgit Prinz facts for kids
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Prinz in 2018
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Birgit Prinz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 25 October 1977 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Frankfurt, West Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Striker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1986–1988 | SV Dörnigheim FC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1992 | FC Hochstadt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1998 | FSV Frankfurt | 57 | (45) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2002 | 1. FFC Frankfurt | 76 | (78) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Carolina Courage | 35 | (23) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2011 | 1. FFC Frankfurt | 114 | (136) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 282 | (282) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–2011 | Germany | 214 | (128) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birgit Prinz, born on October 25, 1977, is a famous German former football player. She won the FIFA Women's World Cup twice and was named the best female player in the world three times.
Birgit played for the German national team. She also played for club teams like 1. FFC Frankfurt in Germany. She also played for the Carolina Courage in the USA. That American league, WUSA, was the first professional women's football league there.
Birgit Prinz is known as one of the best goal scorers in football history. She is the second highest scorer ever in the FIFA Women's World Cup with 14 goals. Only Marta from Brazil has scored more. Birgit stopped playing football professionally in 2011. Today, she works as a sport psychologist for football teams at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
Contents
Playing for Clubs
Birgit Prinz started her football journey at SV Dörnigheim FC. She made her big debut in the Bundesliga for FSV Frankfurt. She played there from 1993 to 1998. During her time with FSV Frankfurt, she helped them win two Bundesliga titles. They also won two German Cups. In 1997 and 1998, she was the top scorer in the Bundesliga.
In 1998, she moved to a nearby club, 1. FFC Frankfurt. This is where she had her greatest success. Over 13 seasons, Prinz won six more Bundesliga titles. She also won eight German Cup titles with this team. She was the Bundesliga's top scorer two more times, in 2001 and 2007.
Prinz also won the UEFA Women's Cup three times with Frankfurt. These wins were in 2002, 2006, and 2008. In 2004, her team reached the final but lost to a Swedish team called Umeå IK.
Birgit also played for two seasons in the United States. She joined Carolina Courage in the WUSA league. She helped them win the WUSA Championship in 2002. After the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, she was offered a chance to play for a men's team in Italy. However, she turned it down. She worried it was just for publicity and she wouldn't get to play much.
During her time at FFC Frankfurt, Prinz received many personal awards. She won the German Female Footballer of the Year award a record eight times. This was every year from 2001 to 2008. She was also named the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2003, 2004, and 2005. For four years after that, from 2007 to 2010, she came in second place. The Brazilian player Marta won those years.
Playing for Germany
Birgit Prinz joined the German national team when she was only 16. Her first game was in July 1994 against Canada. She came into the game late but scored the winning goal in the 89th minute!
Just one year later, she won her first big title. This was at the 1995 European Championship, where she scored in the final game. In the same year, she played in the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup. Germany reached the final but lost to Norway. Birgit Prinz is still the youngest player ever to play in a World Cup Final.
For the next ten years, Prinz had an amazing international career. She won four more UEFA European Championships. These wins were in 1997, 2001, 2005, and 2009. She also won three bronze medals at the Summer Olympics with the German team. These were in 2000, 2004, and 2008.
At the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, Prinz helped Germany win its first World Cup title. She was named the best player of the tournament. She was also the top goal scorer. Prinz became the captain of the women's national team in late 2003. She remained captain until she retired from playing. Four years later, at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, she led her team to Germany's second World Cup title. She won the Silver Ball award as the second-best player in that tournament.
Birgit Prinz holds several important records. With 14 goals, she is the second highest goal scorer in FIFA Women's World Cup history. She also held the record for most goals at the Summer Olympics with 10 goals. This record was later broken by Cristiane from Brazil. For the German national team, Prinz played 214 games and scored 128 goals. This makes her the team's most capped player (most games played) and top goal scorer (most goals scored).
Life Outside Football
Birgit Prinz is a trained physical therapist. In 2010, she earned her master's degree in psychology from the Goethe University Frankfurt. Since January 2012, she has worked as a sport psychologist. She helps young players and women's teams at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
Honours and Awards
Birgit Prinz won many titles and awards throughout her career.
Club Honours
- FSV Frankfurt
- Bundesliga: 1995, 1998
- German Cup: 1995, 1996
- 1. FFC Frankfurt
- UEFA Women's Cup: 2002, 2006, 2008
- Bundesliga: 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008
- German Cup: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2011
- Carolina Courage
- WUSA Championship: 2002
International Honours
- Germany
- FIFA World Cup: 2003, 2007
- UEFA European Championship: 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009
- Olympic bronze medal: 2000, 2004, 2008
- Algarve Cup: 2006
Individual Awards
- FIFA World Player of the Year: 2003, 2004, 2005
- German Player of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
- UEFA Women's Championship Golden Player: 1995
- Golden Ball (best player): 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup
- Top scorer: 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup
- Silver Ball (second best player): 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup
- Bundesliga top scorer: 1997, 1998, 2001, 2007
See also
In Spanish: Birgit Prinz para niños
