Ana-Maria Crnogorčević on being a role model
Growing up, seeing women’s football on TV was a rarity for Crnogorčević. As a result, role models were few and far between.
More recently, though, things have changed astronomically.
During her time as a player for FC Barcelona, the 34-year-old was part of two record-breaking games; the first in front of a crowd of 91,553 in March 2023, before bettering that the following month as 91,648 piled into the Camp Nou.
“After [those games], I went to a men’s Barcelona game, and you could just see young kids, young girls, young boys, walking around with a jersey [with the] name of a women’s player,” she said in an interview, according to Star News.
“I couldn’t imagine that even five years ago, that wasn’t the case.
“I think this is something very special; it’s so amazing, and for young people around the world, it’s huge that they can look up to a women’s player.”
Not only can they now look to women’s football for inspiration, but they can look to Crnogorčević in particular.
On a stage like the European Championships, held on her home soil, there is no time like the present to be exactly the kind of role model she wanted as a young girl.