In the lead-up to the Women’s European Championship in 2025, Goethe-Institut Cyprus hosts a special event on Friday. A screening of the documentary The Miracle of Taipei by John David Seidler will take place at 7pm, which tells the fascinating story of the women’s football team from SSG 09 Bergisch Gladbach that won the world championship title in Taiwan in 1981.

Women’s football was banned in Germany until 1970, and even after that, the German Football Association (DFB) did not focus on building a Women’s national team. Nevertheless, they did not want to miss out on German participation in the World Cup and approved the journey of the then-dominant club team to Taipei. The director combines archival footage and interviews with the players from that time to create an entertaining and insightful film about an interesting facet of German emancipation history, featuring its wonderful protagonists and, of course, plenty of football.

Antigone Heraclidou, historian and avid football fan and curator of the exhibition On The Field: Football. History. Nicosia, which was presented last year at the Leventis Municipal Museum will also join the event. She will shed light on the introduction of football in Cyprus and give a brief historical overview, highlighting the women’s perspective.

This event offers the opportunity to talk about the development and challenges of women’s football in both Germany and Cyprus while experiencing an inspiring evening full of football history and engaging discussions at the Goethe-Institut Cyprus.

The Miracle of Taipei

Film screening and discussion on women’s football in Germany and Cyprus. June 7. Goethe-Institut Cyprus, Nicosia. 7pm. Free. Original language with English subtitles. Only limited places available. Admissions on a first come first serve basis