Just a few weeks before the European Professional Football Championships (14 June to 14 July), Portugal will host a special European Championship featuring eight countries with national teams whose players are all active in the wine industry. The event starts on 22 May; the final will take place on 25 May in the Municipal Stadium of Anadia. Weinelf Deutschland, founded in 2005 with a game at the Munich Olympic Stadium, has the important goal of reaching the final and finally repeating the 2014 European Championship in Switzerland, when it beat Hungary 3:2. Despite appearing in the finals, it has not worked out in the subsequent European Championships every two years.
After the recent training camp in Edenkoben, coaches Erich Rutemöller and Friedel Müller and team manager Andreas Spreitzer are confident that they have found a good mix for the squad of two dozen players for VINOEURO2024. There are players from various wine-growing regions and a few from the wine trade.
Hendrik Bitsch from the Palatinate, who has been with us at the winery for 10 years and now works as our cellar master, is part of the national team.
The opponents come from seven nations. The German team is up against the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Italy in the preliminary round. Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Hungary are also competing for the coveted title. The championship is run on a voluntary basis. However, it is directed by the UENFW (Union of European National Football Teams of Winemakers). In addition to sport, their aim is to cultivate European unity and friendship and to build bridges with neighbors. The German team is accompanied by Vice President Josefine Schlumberger from Baden, UENFW Secretary General Erica Fischbach, Honorary Captain Dr. Franz Josef Jung and Weinelf President Robert Lönarz, among others.
We wish all participants and the entire team lots of fun and success and keep our fingers crossed!
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