Nia Tsholofelo Künzer (born 18 January 1980) is a retired

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

women's football player.

Early life

She was born in

Mochudi Mochudi is one of the larger villages in Botswana with a population of 44,815 people in 2011. It is situated in the Bakgatla tribal region, in Kgatleng District, about northeast of Gaborone. The village lies several kilometres from the main G ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

, as Nia Tsholofelo Künzer (her first name being Swahili for "aim" or "intention" and her second name being

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...

for "hope"), where her parents were on a two-year tour with a development aid organization. She grew up in the Albert-Schweitzer-Kinderdorf (children's village) in

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

-Garbenheim, alongside her brother and seven foster children. After the Abitur, she did a year of practical training in social work in a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...

for handicapped children. In 2008, she completed a degree in education science (German title ''Diplompädagogin'') at the Justus Liebig University Giessen.

Career

Having a history as a high jumper, and after being a member of football clubs Eintracht

and VfB

Gießen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

she was with 1. FFC Frankfurt (1st Frankfurt Women's Football Club) starting 1997. She played as a defender or midfielder. Künzer retired in July 2008 from professional football after an injury.

International career

Her Golden Goal in the final match against Sweden made Germany the winner of the 2003 World Cup and was to become the first ever women's " Goal of the Year" in the history of German football. When together with her team-mates she stood on the balcony of the

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Römer The Römer (German surname, "Roman") is a medieval building in the Altstadt of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and one of the city's most important landmarks. The Römer is located opposite the Old St. Nicholas church and has been the city hall ('' ...

, to be welcomed by thousands of fans, it also marked the end of German women's football long sleep of 30 years, with the news media taking more than marginal interest and the first major sponsors (e.g. Katjes Fassin) appearing on the scene. (Since 2007, FIFA restored the tie-breaking format, with teams playing two straight 15-minute extra time periods before the game goes to penalty kicks.) She actively promotes the idea of women's soccer and helps in recruiting from the next generation of enthusiastic young girls. During the winter of 2003/2004 she had to pause for several weeks due to one more

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

injury, which meant she was not available for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

2004 in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. A fourth

injury forced Künzer to resign from the national team in 2006.

International goals

TV career

Künzer also works as a TV sports commentator. She is Das Erste's main pundit for their comprehensive coverage of games involving the national team as well as for major women's tournaments like World Cups, Euros and the Algarve Cup.

References

External links

Nia Künzer
(personal homepage)

(portrait Nia Künzer)

(portrait Nia Künzer, in German)

("Heads-up Germany stuns Sweden" – October 13, 2003)
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
(audio in German: "Arrival in Frankfurt" – October 14, 2003) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunzer, Nia 1980 births Living people People from Wetzlar Sportspeople from Giessen (region) University of Giessen alumni German women's footballers Germany women's international footballers 1. FFC Frankfurt players 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders People from Kgatleng District Footballers from Hesse