Who is Marie-Louise Eta, set to be first female coach to be involved in men's Champions League? Know everything about her

Marie-Louise Eta is set to become the first senior female coach to be actively involved in a men's Champions League group stage game. When she takes her seat in the away dugout at Braga on Wednesday night, women across the world will have reason to cheer loudly. She will break the false glass ceiling by becoming interim joint assistant manager at Union Berlin. Earlier on Saturday, Eta helped Union Berlin draw 1-1 with Augsburg. With this match, she became the first female assistant manager in Bundesliga history.

Union Berlin promote Eta

Union Berlin promoted Eta and their temporary manager, Marco Grote, from the same roles with the club’s under-19s after nine straight defeats left the first team at the bottom. While Grote returned to the under-19s after Nenad Bjelica’s appointment as Union’s manager on Monday, Eta will continue with the first team and share the duties of assistant coach with Bjelica’s trusted sidekick Danijel Jumic.

Eta wins Women's Champions League

Eta won the 2009-10 Women’s Champions League as a defensive midfielder with Turbine Potsdam under her maiden name of Bagehorn. She grew up in Dresden, and her husband Benjamin, is a former professional footballer turned coach. Though Eta is scheduled to return to the juniors once Sebastian Bonig, Fischer’s former deputy, returns from extended leave, she can be proud of what she has achieved.

Challenging role

However, her role as a female football assistant coach is quite challenging considering the prevalent male chauvinism. She told UEFA last month, "I've always tried not to put the focus on the fact that I'm a woman but I noticed some people started treating me completely differently compared with before." She added it is something that is not always comfortable.

Imke Wubbenhorst

Earlier, Eta's friend and former BV Cloppenburg teammate Imke Wubbenhorst made German football history by managing the lower-division Cloppenburg men’s side. She later became a junior part of Julian Nagelsmann’s backroom staff while on a secondment at RB Leipzig during their 2019-20 Champions League campaign.

Currently, Wubbenhorst is the Manager of Young Boys’ women’s team in Switzerland. Talking to German TV channel Deutsche Welle, she said, "As a female you have to convince male players with good drills and good analysis. They will not be impressed with your playing career and there are some foreign players with different views of the world."

FAQs:

How will Marie-Louise Eta make history on Wednesday?
Marie-Louise Eta is set to become the first senior female coach to be actively involved in a men's Champions League group stage game. She has made history by becoming interim joint assistant manager at Union Berlin. Earlier on Saturday, Eta helped Union Berlin draw 1-1 with Augsburg. With this match, she became the first female assistant manager in Bundesliga history.

Who is Marie-Louise Eta?
Eta won the 2009-10 Women’s Champions League as a defensive midfielder with Turbine Potsdam under her maiden name of Bagehorn. She grew up in Dresden, and her husband Benjamin, is a former professional footballer turned coach.