Golden Goalie Gloves

GWANGJU – Coming from a very poor family, Maike Weber, the number one goalkeeper for the Brazilian team, struggled her way through to reach the position she`s in at the moment as one of the best goalkeepers in South America.

Of course everyone in Brazil loves football, so was Maike, who started her career with football since she was only 5 years old. “Unlike most of the athletes in the world who got their training on the hands of professional trainers or even their fathers, my mother was my coach, she also was an amateur goalkeeper before.” Said Maike.

Maike, who`s studying Physical Medication at Atto Vale Do Rio Dp Peixe University added: “My life has not been the perfect life that any teenager dreams of, and still it isn`t. I live away from my parents most of the time with my friends in a tiny apartment, so that I can be close to the place where I train.”

Maike who made a great saves in the BRA vs RUS game, though her team lost 1-0 to Russia, stated that she tries to focus only on the ball, it makes no difference to her whether they are winning or losing, she only cares about not receiving any goals. “As a goalkeeper, I am one of the most important players in the team, I try to be reliable to my teammates as much as I can, and make them put their trust in me.”

Being a female football player in a country like Brazil is kind of a hard task to do. “Female players always come as a 2^nd choice after men’s football, maybe because they play better than us … But, we also love football, so, recently we began to train harder and harder to reach a good position in our country, something that everyone should know, also women can play football.”

Mahmoud Khairy (EGY), FISU Young Reporter.