Bernd Schröder (68) is the trainer for FFC Turbine Potsdam’s first team and has won a number of titles since joining the club in 1971. The last highlight was their Champions League win in May 2010. In 2011 the ball will be bouncing to Germany for the Women’s World Cup.

What was it like back in May to win 7:6 on penalties against Lyon in the Champions League final in Spain? Did Chancellor Merkel send you a text message?

No, we know each other, but she didn’t send a text. We were applauded from all sides, though. Former foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier sent me a handwritten letter. The whole thing was just fantastic, culminating in a tense penalty shootout with seven million viewers watching from around Europe. It certainly gave women’s soccer a big push forward.

Men typically dominate the soccer world. Do women play differently? Where are the differences for you?

Men’s and women’s soccer are two completely different sports. Women behave differently on the pitch. They don’t spit and they don’t go in for the theatrics when they fall on the ground. When they stay down it usually means they are actually hurt. Women’s soccer is just more honest. That is how I would describe it. It is more elegant, and less like work. You can see the joy of the game. And the wages are still realistic. There isn’t this massively overblown system of wages and transfer fees like in the men’s game.

So does that mean that these women have to hold regular jobs as well?

Some of them. If they can do a few hours a day of something else it doesn’t hurt. Some of them study. Others have jobs. Some of them are in the army or police. Most of them tend to give it up between 28 and 30 because they want to establish themselves in their careers. They can’t retire at 30 like the men do because the money just isn’t as good. It is a dramatic lifestyle change to stop playing, but nothing more. Some are starting families at that age as well.

How does one go about becoming a professional soccer player as a woman?

I can tell you about the way we do it in Potsdam. At the moment we have about 70 girls in our program (first team of the elite girl’s soccer) between the ages of 13 and 19, who train at least eight times a week. From this group we put together our first and second Bundesliga squads. Theoretically these girls can play professional women’s soccer full time from the age of 16, but that is pretty seldom.

How do you integrate foreign players that don’t speak any German?

They have to learn quickly. That is important for us because not all of them can speak English. We have had women from all over the world, from Norway and Brazil to Russia. At the moment we have a Japanese girl playing. She took intensive German courses for half a year and even knows some Goethe and Schiller (laughing), which some German students don’t even know anymore. The language helps speed up the integration, which in turn makes them feel more at home here.

You are the longest-serving women’s soccer coach in Germany. You know all of the recipes for success and have taken more titles than any other coach with the FFC Turbine Potsdam team. What is your secret?

I have to make sure that everyone on the team gets along. Otherwise it won’t work. It’s different than the men’s teams. They are sometimes better at adjusting. The average age in our team is 20. As a comparison, the average age of our current men’s national team is 24, and that is considered “young“. Our players range from 16 to 27 years of age. That covers two generations. As a coach you have to be able to bring them all together. That symbiosis between young and old is the key to success.

Who are the people that support Turbine Potsdam?

It’s a good mix of families with small children, retirees and middle-aged folks. The price to get into the games is low, unlike men’s games, which makes it easy for the whole family to come down.

Are there different rituals than with the men?

The relationship between the players and fans is more intimate. The fans know more about the private lives and personalities of the players. They cheer for each individual as she runs on the pitch to get warmed up before the match. The players always thank the fans, who in turn would give the shirts off their backs to be there for the games abroad. They even sleep in airports if they have to.

What do you expect from the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany? After the national team victories in 2003 in the USA and 2007 in China – with a clean sheet and Nadine Angerer stopping a penalty – do you think they can grab that third title in a row?

The pressure is immense. The way the team performs will have a massive knock-on effect in women’s soccer for years. Every club carries some of the responsibility now. I can feel it for sure. The U20 World Cup (under 20 years of age) for women goes from July until the beginning of August. It is an important test. The league ends early next year (in March) so the players have time to prepare for the tournament.