Fighting for survival in the top tier of German football, Union Berlin sacked Steffen Baumgart and appointed Marie-Louise Eta as the interim head coach, making the 34-year-old the first female coach in charge of a men’s team in the Bundesliga. Eta was appointed as interim coach with five games to go before the end of the season. Now it’s four, after the 1-2 defeat at home against Wolfsburg. Her arrival at Alten Forsterei for the match, however, was a moment to savour. Berlin fans roared “Fussballgottin!” — Football Goddess. Eta previously became the first female assistant coach in the men’s Bundesliga in 2023, also at Union, and had been coaching the under-19 men’s team. Now, she’s the first female coach across the top divisions of the “big five” European leagues. Before her, Helen Nkwocha became the first woman to coach a men’s European top-division team in 2021 when she took over as head coach of Tvoroyar Boltfelag of the Faroe Islands.