Duisburg (dpa / lnw) - It is now well known that Germany's flagship soccer player Alexandra Popp is particularly fond of animals. What few people know: The 31-year-old captain of the DFB team has a special friend and fan at Duisburg Zoo: Mapema, the magnificent head of the gorilla family, conquered the heart of dog lover Popp in 2011. At the time, the Gevelsberg resident was doing an internship at the Duisburg Zoo and was also involved in the care and supervision of the great apes.
"Mapema is one of our character animals and absolute attractions. He apparently grabbed Ms. Popp emotionally at the time and was one of the reasons why she later trained as an animal keeper," said zoo spokesman Christian Schreiner of the German Press Agency. Born in 1996, the gorilla boss has lived in Duisburg since 2007 and has fathered a number of offspring since then. Like Popp, Mapema also likes to play with balls or look for food that the animal caretakers have hidden for him.
As a 20-year-old young player for FCR Duisburg, Popp was still at the beginning of her career. Everyone is talking about the captain at the moment because she led the German team to the European Championship final against hosts England on Sunday (6 p.m. / ARD) at London's Wembley Stadium with six goals. And it shouldn't come as a surprise if Mapema Popp is also keeping his fingers crossed on Sunday.
